The One Left Stranded
by whothefrickleisbucky
Summary: Six year old Tony Stark couldn't do anything but watch as strangers break into his home and try to force their way into Howard's workshop. When their plans fail they take Tony with them, hoping to get enough money for him. *Warning for violence against children, drug abuse, food issues, abandonment issues, suicidal thoughts*
1. Chapter 1

Tony always had trouble sleeping. During the night he would make his way down to the kitchen and pull a chair up to the counter to reach a cup and pour himself a glass of water. Most nights his dad was up late in his workshop and he could see the light flooding the hall and hear him cursing and banging things together. This night was different, his parents were out of town and left him alone with his nanny and the maids.

He got his glass of water and went to push his chair back towards the table when he saw the woman standing outside the large glass doors that led to the backyard. She was soaking wet from the rain and smiled as she pointed towards the doorknob. He didn't recognize her, he didn't think she worked anywhere in the house so he didn't move towards the door. After a few minutes a man stepped in next to her and fiddled with the door.

"Move, kid." She said, pushing past him once he unlocked the door. Three men appeared behind her, turning from behind the wall and rushing in through the door.

"I could have picked that lock just fine." One of the men said, pulling his dripping hood off of his head.

"Less suspicious without the forced entry. Someone watch the kid so he doesn't wake anyone." The woman said and pulled off her raincoat, replacing it with a bandana over her mouth. "He wasn't supposed to be here. What kind of parents don't take a six year old with them when they go out of town?"

One of the men shrugged. "Who cares? He's here. Just see if he can be useful, Buck."

Everyone stripped out of their wet coats and boots and covered their faces before continuing through the house. They put their wet clothes in a large bag and put on new pairs of boots. Tony worried his cup between his hands as they quickly exited the kitchen. He glanced up at the man who had stayed behind with him.

"Do you need something? Papa's not here if you're looking for him so you'll have to come back." Tony said. The man looked down at him and sighed. He grabbed him by the arms and lifted him up to sit on the table. "That's rude. You shouldn't grab people without their permission. That's what my mama says."

"I'll keep that in mind." The man said, kneeling down to look him in the eye. "You're daddy actually sent us to pick up a few things. Do you think you can show me where he works?"

Tony shook his head and rubbed his tired eyes with his free hand. He knew the rules and he didn't trust these people. He made a quick glance at the security camera in the corner of the kitchen. It was facing away from the back door but saw most of the room. The people hadn't shown their faces since they got in so it was useless and they wore hoods when they were outside so those cameras probably didn't see their faces either.

"Sir, you seem nice but I've known my papa longer than I've known you and he don't let anyone in there. I've only been a few times." Tony said. "Also, you guys are probably robbers. That's stupid because there's security all over the place because my papa is a genius. I'm probably smarter than you at this point."

The man sighed again but didn't let go of his tight hold on his arm. Tony tried to wiggle free, jumping down from the table and pulling lightly towards the door. The man yanked him back and shook him slightly. He didn't like these people, especially the one who was hurting his arm with too strong of a grip and was growing more angry at the moment. Tony glanced at the back door quickly. It was still raining heavily but he didn't mind. He liked the rain and it was only a short walk to his Aunt Peggy's house. All he had to do was get free and make a run for it.

"Papa didn't send you, did he?" Tony asked.

"Sure he did. Just needs us to pick up something from his office." He said. "You can trust us. My name is Buck and I'm a nice man. Look, we even took off all our wet shoes so we wouldn't track footprints all over your big nice house. Wouldn't that make your mom happy?"

"I think she would be happy with people not breaking into her house." Tony said. His head snapped back from the force of the hand slapping across his face. Tony was tempted to keep talking, anger bubbling inside of him but he knew that would only make it worse, angering him more. He dropped his head and looked to the floor silently.

Tony glanced up towards the door every few minutes. Buck was pacing around the kitchen so he figured he wouldn't notice right away if he made a run for it. Tony knew the only problem was that he would have to jump over the fence that circled the property. He took a single step towards the door when one of the other men walked back in. This one was shorter than Buck but looked strong and it made Tony nervous.

"When they said the Starks were loaded I never imagined this." He said. "You should see that woman's jewelry collection."

"Did you get enough?" Buck asked, glaring over at Tony. The man shrugged.

"Most likely. We probably got enough to pay off our debt and then retire happily." He said.

"You shouldn't take stuff that's not yours." Tony said, glancing between them. "It's dishonest. I think I should leave. I'll just go for a walk because people don't come over in the middle of the night unless they're doing something bad or want to be very rude and I'm not supposed to talk to bad people or rude people." He yawned as he made another small step towards the door.

Tony backed away quickly as the man rushed towards him, grabbing him by the arms gently and dragging him down the hall. They stopped in front of the metal door that led to Howard's workshop, locked by a keypad.

"Listen buddy, I don't hurt kids. Not even rude, rich kids. So just tell us the code to get in here and we'll be on our way." The man said, holding Tony out towards the door.

Tony didn't know the code to get in. His dad didn't even say 'good morning' to him most days let alone the code to get into his workshop. He only saw a few of the things that were in there, a bunch of papers he had trouble reading, chunks of metal welded together with wires sticking out, and a few of his cars.  
>When Tony was allowed down there he would just sit in one of his dad's cars, mostly the red one, and watch him work from afar. He still didn't know how to get in though.<p>

Tony shrugged. With an angry growl he was shoved into Buck's arms. "What's your birthday, kid?" The other man asked.

"May 29th." Tony said, frowning as they punched in the date and it was rejected.

"Year?" He asked.

"I'm six." Tony said.

He punched in the year and growled quietly as the light shone red. He started punching in random numbers. Tony looked down the hall towards the main entrance. The woman he had seen earlier and the third man were there piling a few bags by the door and waiting.

He rubbed his stinging cheek and looked up the stairs. He wondered that if he yelled loud enough if he could wake up anyone else. Tony opened his mouth and inhaled just as the alarm went off, a long high-pitched wail blocking out whatever scream he tried to make. He looked back at the man in front of the keypad, red light blinking franticly above it.

A strong arm wrapped around Tony's waist and lifted him into the air, rushing him to the door. He kicked at Buck's chest, banging his fists against the man's head. As they rushed out the front door and into the freezing rain he called for help, begged for him mom, dad, Jarvis, Aunt Peggy, anyone to come get him.

The three others grabbed a bag and rushed after them. They ran down the gravel driveway down to the gate and pushed it open slightly.

"Why the fuck did you take the kid, Chisholm?" The woman asked. "Kidnapping wasn't part of the plan."

"We need $500,000. Unless you guys managed to scrounge up that much in less than an hour, we could use him. Those weapons designs could have gone for a lot but maybe a ransom demand could go for just as much." Buck said as he walked up to a car parked on the side of the road a block away from the house.

He opened the door and shoved Tony into the backseat, shoving him against a blond boy reading by flashlight. Tony looked at him and back at Buck as he slid in next to him.

"You should just let me go now. You're not going to get anything and I can be really annoying." Tony said. Once they had thrown the bags into the trunk they all piled into the car and drove off.

"I kept watch, no one went up to the house." The boy said, looking between everyone.

Bucky held down Tony's arms as a police car sped past. Tony looked back at it. "What? You watched to make sure the good guys don't show up? That's not very nice. Why would you brag about that?" He muttered.

"I did what I was told. It seemed to work out just fine for me except now I have to put up with you." The boy said, frowning. He turned his attention away from Tony and towards one of the men in the front seat. "Jacques, did you get everything you needed?"

"We didn't get to stay long." He said bitterly from the driver's seat. Tony looked up at him, he now knew the names of two of them. Buck and Jacques. The woman and the third man were still a mystery. The nameless man sighed and shook his head.

"Whatever was in Stark's workshop would be worth a lot more than a few pieces of jewelry and the silver forks they have lying around." He said. "It's not my fault the kid didn't want to tell us how to get in. Besides, you shouldn't get mad at me. You're the one who gambled us into this kind of debt."

Tony watched them bicker for a few minutes as they drove out of the city and into the surrounding forest. He shivered slightly, blaming it on his wet clothes from the cold rain and looked out the window. Tony decided he would try to open the boy's door and jump out. No one would be able to reach him in time and he could run off and hide in the trees.

He made a quick jump for the door, being kicked back by the boy and was quickly pulled back by Buck. "Hey, you got my book wet." The boy said, locking the door quickly and glaring at Tony.

Buck's arms pulled around him tightly, pinning Tony's arms to his side. Tony kicked at the seats and yelled loudly. A hand clamped down over his mouth and held it closed firmly, not allowing him to open it and bite him.

They pulled up to a cabin and Tony was dragged inside. He was thrown onto the torn up couch as everyone else started bring everything in. The bags were small, mostly empty except for the one that held their clothes. The woman started hanging up the wet raincoats and lining up the boots to dry as Buck started to light a fire in the fireplace.

"Clint, keep an eye on the kid. Make sure he doesn't run off." Jacques said as he ripped open a bag and poured out its contents. Tony frowned when he saw the pile of his mother's jewelry.

"That's the necklace papa gave my mom for their anniversary. You can't have that." Tony said, reaching forward quickly. His hand was smacked away roughly and the boy, Clint, pulled him back to sit on the couch. "You guys are the worst people I've ever met. And you smell funny, the rain is probably the closest thing you've had to a shower in months."

Clint covered his mouth quickly and dragged him towards a bedroom. He locked the door behind them quickly. Tony frowned at the dusty, ratty bed and the rotted wood on the walls of the cabin.

"Do you ever shut up?" Clint asked, walking over to the wall. He put his foot on the groove where two logs met and started to climb up. He went up towards the ceiling and sat down on an exposed beam.  
>Clint paused as the wood creaked under his weight and then sat back against the wall and watched Tony intently. "You're just going to get yourself into worse trouble."<p>

"Hey, they broke into my house and kidnapped me!" Tony said angrily. "I just want to go home with my stuff and be left alone."

"Well, they need it. If they don't pay up soon they'll be in big trouble." Clint said. "They're not that bad. They're just stressed. Go easy on them and they'll let you go home once they have what they need."

Tony frowned up at the kid by the ceiling. "Not that bad?" He muttered and sat down next to the bed, back to Clint.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time morning came around it had stopped raining, leaving the ground slick with deep mud and the sky grey. Tony had refused to go back to sleep that night, listening warily to the muffled voices on the other side of the door and watching Clint read through his book up by the ceiling. Once the rain had stopped and the clouds parted slightly, the woman and Buck drove off with the bags full of things from Tony's home. He watched them leave as Clint dragged him out into the woods, Jacques following behind slowly, to gather firewood. He frowned as he thought of all his mother's jewelry and the silver plated dishes his dad had bought from Italy and numerous other things driving away to never be seen again.

"Come on, Tony. I know it's wet but you're going to want to look for pine trees or birch. Those usually stay dry and burn easily." Clint said, yanking on his arm. Tony didn't budge and just dug his feet deeper into the mud.

Clint scowled. Tony had left home in only his pajamas so Clint had put him in his clothes and his only pair of shoes besides the rubber boots Clint wore. He was uncomfortable and cold. The clothes were too big, sleeves rolled up and socks stuffed in the toes of the shoes the help them fit Tony's much smaller body.

"They really aren't that bad." Clint said, handing Tony another pile of birch bark. He had been glaring at Jacques who was standing a few feet away, watching them closely.

"What? They your parents?" Tony asked. He didn't think Clint really looked like any of them but that would explain why he was here. Clint laughed slightly and shook his head.

"Nah. But they are like family. They take care of me and my brother and they teach me a lot so it's fine." Clint said, scratching the back of his head and glancing over to Tony. "They're definitely a lot nicer than my parents."

Tony pouted. He didn't understand and he usually understood everything. Was Clint implying that if parents weren't nice then he could get a new family? Tony didn't like the idea at all, especially since these people were terrible anyway.

He glanced off into the woods, taking every handful of sticks and leaves that was passed over to him. Tony didn't think much about it, he just shoved all the firewood into Clint's face and took off into the forest. He slipped over the mud and wet leaves but pushed himself up quickly and continued to run.

He was starting to think that he had gotten away from them when Jacques wrapped an arm around his waist, lifted him into the air, and Tony kicked as hard as he could. Jacques let out a pained groan as his foot connected and dropped him hard onto the ground. Tony gasped and curled into himself at the impact. Clint ran up next to Jacques before kneeling down to check on Tony.

"You're okay." He said, examining him closely. Clint held out his hand to help him up. Tony pushed it away and stayed in the mud.

"Don't run off." Jacques said firmly. "You'll go home eventually, we just have to be sure."

"Promise?" Tony asked. Jacques nodded but Tony just turned to look at Clint.

"Yeah, I promise you'll go home eventually." He said, holding his hand out again. Tony took it and allowed himself to be pulled out of the mud. Clint promised and although he hung out with thieves and kidnappers that he probably did think 'weren't that bad' but he hadn't lied about anything yet.

Clint was ordered to take him back to the cabin and just lock him in the room, no longer having the privilege to go outside. With a harsh push Jacques sent Tony forward towards the cabin while he began to recollect the firewood. He walked slowly, mostly trying to be careful not to slip in the mud again in his too long jeans and shoes that were several sizes too big but also to make it difficult for them. It worked back at home, if he annoyed his parents they would make him leave, if he annoyed these people then they would get rid of him faster.

"They're really as delightful as you said." Tony said with fake cheerfulness as he followed Clint back into the room from the night before. "No wonder you follow them 'round like a puppy, they're angels."

Clint growled slightly as he pushed Tony down onto the floor gently to sit and pulled on his hands. He had scrapped them slightly during his failed escape when he slipped. They stung because he was covered head to toe in mud and he could feel bruises forming on his side from where he had hit the ground.

"They aren't perfect but they're not evil. They're going to let you go home soon, better than you running away and wandering around in the woods for days." Clint said as he retrieved the pajamas Tony wore the night before and then dragged him up off the floor and out to the bathroom.

There wasn't any running water. Tony wasn't surprised since there wasn't any electricity either. Clint told him to take off the dirty clothes he was wearing and he quickly changed into his warm, dry pajamas. He yelped as Clint threw a wet towel over his head to clean off all the mud from his hair and face.

"That's freezing! Don't you guys have hot water? Did you guys forget to get hot water while you were skipping your lessons in manners and what to do in someon else's home, like not take their things and kids?" Tony barked out angrily as he threw the towel back at Clint.

Clint ignored him and continued to try to clean him off, moving Tony's arms out of the way as he continued to try to reach up to swat away the towel. Once his head was clean he moved on to Tony's hands, still cut up and muddy. Tony didn't try to pull away this time. He let Clint wash off his hands before dragging him back to the room.

He sat him down on the bed as he went to dig through his duffle bag, returning with a first aid kit. He took Tony's hands gingerly and rubbed disinfectant on them and wrapped the tiny scratches with bandaids before returning everything with his bag.

"You're really weird." Tony muttered. "Who kidnaps someone and then takes care of them?"

Clint shrugged and climbed back up the walls to the exposed beams by the ceiling. He dropped down the book he had been reading the night earlier and it hit the floor with a slight thud. Tony didn't pay much attention to it but Clint had jumped back down to the ground and was trying to hand it to him.

"I finished it last night when you refused to sleep. It's good, has dragons and trolls and stuff." Clint said. Tony took it and tried to read the title. It wasn't a word he knew and sounding it out was taking more time than he cared to admit so he just decided to open it and get started.

It was difficult. Tony figured that whatever this fantasy novel was either made up a bunch of words or just used a bunch of really hard ones. He sounded out as many words as he could before tossing it back to the boy sitting next to him. It fell against the bed with a dull thud.

"It's stupid. Doesn't even make sense." Tony said. Clint frowned as he glanced down at the book. "When are they going to send me home?"

Clint shrugged. "I don't know. Probably before me, Buck, and Jacques go home." He said. "Then the other two guys will take their share and disappear in to whatever cave they sprouted from."

"They're not your friends?" Tony asked as he went to sit by the window. It hadn't started raining against but the grey clouds had darkened and covered the sky again. "I thought they were your new family."

"Just Buck and Jacques. They stay at the circus with my brother and me. These other guys are just friends Buck knows that are here to help him get money to pay off his gambling debts. I don't like them." Clint said, reopening the book and looking down at it as he walked over to sit by Tony. "This book totally isn't stupid. Did you miss the part where I said there were dragons in it?"

Tony leaned towards him, glancing over Clint's shoulder. "You probably shouldn't tell me about where you and your family live, not that smart for a kidnapper." Tony said, Clint just shrugged again. Tony pointed down at the page. "See, those are probably made up words. It's a stupid book."

"It says 'sapphire amulet' and Dr. Seuss made up words all the time and his books were gold." Clint said. Tony still frowned down at the book.

"Reading is lame. Just talk about where you live again so I know what to tell the police." Tony said.

Clint shook his head and walked back to the wall. He climbed back up to the beam on the ceiling and continued to watch him. Tony was hungry. He hadn't eaten since dinner the night before and no one had offered him food yet and he wasn't sure if he would even take it. His mom always were annoyed when he refused to eat something when they were out, said it was rude and would immediately send him to his room whenever they returned home. They couldn't force him to eat here, it might just annoy them too.

Tony went back to staring out the window. It was quickly growing darker and the car came back up the small dirt road up to the cabin. His first thought was that they had come back to get him and drive him back. He stood up to walk out to meet them but Clint shook his head.

Buck and the woman didn't have anything with them, not everything they had taken from Tony's house or anything to eat, but they looked angry. He flinched as the door slammed loudly and yelling filled the cabin on the other side of the door. He didn't move from the window until the one man he didn't have a name for yet came in and grabbed him by the arm to drag him out into the living room.

Clint followed behind quickly, jumping down silently from the ceiling and taking a seat in the corner. Tony didn't say anything as they all stood around him when they sat him on the couch. A fire burned steadily in the fireplace with Jacques covered in mud and the woman held a cell phone tightly in her hand.

"Kid, do you think you can get us $200,000?" She asked firmly. Tony shrugged and she sighed, typing quickly on her phone. "Let's hope you are. God knows they have enough to pay that much for you."

Tony took the phone as she shoved it in his face. He recognized the voice that talked quietly on the other end. It was his mother, her worried voice sounded out through the speaker and asked who was calling and what he wanted and said she was going to get Howard.

"Mama, do I get to come home now? They said I could soon but they're not letting me and they're all mean except fo-." The phone was ripped from his hand quickly as the woman started speaking to his mother, demanding payment for his safe return.

Tony smiled over at Clint. He was going home. This had to mean that they were taking him home where he wouldn't be pushed around by strangers and yelled at for no reason. He could go back to his warm bed and familiar house where Jarvis would read to him and not get upset that he couldn't read and he wouldn't have to look for dry sticks for a fire. He hated these people and he hated this cabin and was happy to be going home.

She hung up angrily and glared at him. "They won't pay it." Tony looked up at her. Everyone in the room tensed up and he didn't know what to do.

Jacques grabbed him angrily, lifting him by the arms and dragging him out of the cabin and back into the woods. Tony thought at first that he was being taken out to the car but they turned drastically and went deeper into the woods. He screamed loudly, kicking at the man holding him until he was lifted higher and his arms and legs were pinned to his chest.

He was dropped silently and lifted his head to look up at the man. Tony froze when he saw the gun pointed at him. "You're worthless. We just needed $200,000 and they won't even pay that for you." Clint stepped in quickly, knocking the gun out of the way and standing between them. "Move kid. We didn't get enough. We don't have enough. If we can't pay it then we're all dead."

Clint didn't move as he crossed his arms. Tony yanked lightly on the boy's shirt as he pulled himself up and looked over at the rest of the group that had followed them out. They were whispering furiously and Jacques turned to shout angrily into the forest.

"They're not looking. You can just let me leave now and I'll be fine." Tony whispered. Clint hesitated before he shook his head.

"He wouldn't shoot you, he's just angry and stressed. Don't worry." He said. Tony groaned and looked back around. Everyone else was nodding and Tony made a quick look back into the woods, contemplating his chances of making it to a road or living out there for long in the cold and the rain if he just ran now.

"I have an idea of what we can do with him." The woman said. "Just keep your shit together, Duquesne, and you and Chisholm and your little student can go back to the carnival you guys crawled out of."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note - I'm reading your reviews and I have no idea how to reply to the guests (or if I can). Sorry, this isn't my usual website of posting things. In other news, to the person asking about when Bruce was showing up, in a few chapters. You guys are great. Tony'll be okay, don't worry. At least he has Clint.**

As soon as they made it back to the cabin Clint dragged them back to the room and sat him down on the floor in the corner. Tony didn't feel like talking. He was cold and wet and didn't protest when Clint wrapped him up in the dirty blanket from the bed. He was ready to go home.

"You should sleep. You've been up all night." Clint muttered. Tony shook his head. The temperature was beginning to drop as the sun went down and he pulled the blanket close. He looked up to the window at the sound of a few raindrops hitting the glass, it was raining again.

He curled into the side of the wall and listened to the silent drumming against the house and the low murmurs outside the door. Tony knew they were talking about him. Clint promised that he would go home but Jacques pointed a gun in his face and he didn't feel safe anymore. A loud crack of thunder blocked out all other noise and Clint dropped his bag, his clothes spilling across the floor and he ran back over to Tony. It warmed up quickly underneath the dusty blanket with both of them covered by it.

"Are you scared of thunder?" Tony asked as the voices outside stopped. They must have been finished with whatever they were discussing. "That's adorable."

"Shut up. No. It's just cold so I'm trying to keep warm. Just go to sleep." Clint said. Tony shook his head and felt tense slightly as the rain pounded harder against the cabin. "Fine, stay up all night again. But you'll be on your second night with no sleep and I don't deal with zombies."

"I can't sleep. Jarvis reads me a story before I go to bed." Tony said as thunder shook the house. The blanket was yanked up slightly as Clint pulled it closer to himself.

"Sorry. I just don't like loud things." He muttered. He looked up at the ceiling for a few minutes, waiting for more thunder or lightning to ruin the calm. Clint pulled an energy bar out from under the blanket and held it out to Tony. "You want a story? Okay, I'll tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a tired little ten year old who met a really little boy who refused to go to sleep. Because sometimes at night it could get loud and scary that brave, handsome kid didn't want to leave the little boy awake by himself so he stayed up with him and became even more tired. This kid gets angry when he doesn't sleep for a long time so he just wants to know what he can do to help the little boy to feel safe enough to go to sleep."

Tony chuckled softly. It wasn't a very good story in his opinion, the stories Jarvis told him always had people going on adventures and battles that seemed hopeless and heroes pulling through dark times. He understood, though. Clint was sleepy. He could see it in the way his eyes drooped as he spoke, only to shoot back open at a flash of lightning or distant boom of thunder.

"Why are you scared of loud noises?" Tony asked. Clint shrugged.

"I used to know a really loud person and whenever he would be really loud he would be mean too." He said. "Please go to sleep, I'll probably be able to sleep then too. No, wait. You're probably just hungry."

Clint pulled a few granola bars out of his pocket and held them out. He was right, Tony was hungry. He hadn't eaten since dinner the night he was taken and he probably would be able to fall asleep much easier if he wasn't so hungry. However, Tony didn't want to sleep. Jacques was close by, waving his gun around and he didn't want to be asleep and alone surrounded by people he didn't know in a place he had never been before.

"No thanks. I'll eat when I go home. Tomorrow's Monday and we have Italian food on Mondays." Tony said. Clint sighed and laid his head back against the wall.

"Does Jarvis cook it? He reads you bed time stories so it makes sense." He asked, pausing as the rain softened slightly. Tony nodded. "Where's your mom?"

"She's gone a lot. She does a lot of charity work when papa is really busy so I don't see her often. And he's usually at his office working for the company or down in his workshop working on his projects. So I have Jarvis." Tony said calmly. Clint frowned at him. "He's the butler. I do have a nanny but she just makes sure I don't do anything I'm not supposed to. Jarvis makes all my food and tells me stories and tucks me in. He's great."

Tony yawned loudly and continued talking in an incoherent mumble. Clint sighed and stood up quickly to tuck the covers in closer around the boy. He froze for a moment as a low rumble sounded in the distance, the storm was far away now and the thunder sounded distant. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to deal with anymore loud noises for the night he tucked himself in close to Tony and let the tired boy rest his head against his shoulder. The bed would have probably been more comfortable that sleeping in the corner but Clint preferred it over the dirty bed that was there when they found the cabin.

He pulled a few granola bars out of his pocket and put them in the pocket of Tony's pajama pants. He wasn't sure what would happen tomorrow but they were supposed to be driving back soon and if he didn't have time to offer Tony breakfast he wanted to make sure he had it.

OOOOOO

Tony opened his eyes groggily as he was lifted into the air. He blinked slowly to see Clint still sleeping, leaning further into the corner as he slowly slid down the wall due to his sudden absence. Judging by the bright light coming in through the window it was late morning. Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly as he allowed himself to be carried outside the cabin.

His eyes snapped shut as the sun beat down onto his face. He buried his face into the shoulder of the man that was carrying him and whimpered.

"Am I going home now?" Tony muttered. He opened one eye to see a tired Clint stumbling out of the door after them. Blinking to force away all exhausting, Tony tried to push himself off of the person holding tightly to him. "Clint, am I going home?" He called out.

"I don't…" Clint said as Buck walked out of the cabin to stop him.

Tony was about to call out to him when he was thrown into the back of the car. Buck and Jacques didn't get in with him, just the woman and the other man. The doors locked quickly and Tony crawled to the windows just in time to see Clint's face drop with Buck muttering to him before they drove away. Whatever he was saying Clint didn't seem happy about it and Tony started to worry as the cabin was blocked from view.

The drive out of the forest wasn't very long. Tony buckled his seatbelt and hummed while he thought of everything he would do once he finally got home. He wouldn't need to sleep, he had slept all night and all through the morning so he would put that off until he ate something. It had almost been two days since he ate and once he got home Tony was hoping Jarvis would be the one to cook for him because his food was the best. However, his parents should be back from their trip by now. Whenever his mom was home and Tony was hurt or upset she would cook him dinner. It was never as good as Jarvis's meals but Tony still loved it.

They pulled into a small town and Tony looked out the window. It wasn't the town he lived in but it was probably where they were coming to pick him up. They parked the car on the side of the road and pulled him out quickly, dragging him into a small diner.

"Are we meeting them here? I can go home now?" Tony asked. They ignored him and pulled him into a booth. He smiled up at the waitress who came to take their order.

"Just coffee for us. Would you like something, kiddo?" The man asked, smiling over at Tony.

"No, I'm waiting until I get home. Don't call me 'kiddo'. I'm way too adorable to be your kid." Tony muttered. The woman scowled as the man chuckled lightly.

"Ha, kids. Sorry, we had a long road trip and he's still tired." He said. The waitress nodded and walked away. He turned to Tony after she left and whispered angrily. "You're going to shut your mouth for a few hours or we're just going to follow the old plan and shoot you in the face."

Tony's mouth snapped shut and looked down at the table. He didn't like the gun. Howard built guns and weapons, he knew what they did and the last thing he wanted was another one pointed at him. Tony didn't want to die. He wasn't quite sure what it meant or what would happen if he did but he knew it would hurt and he always tried to avoid as much pain as possible.

He looked up from the table as a man slid into the booth next to him. Tony's face was plastered over the front page of the newspaper he was holding. He looked down at Tony, studying him closely before turning back towards the other two, who were silently sipping at his coffee.

"I said I would pay for weapon designs." He said. Tony tried to listen carefully through the man's thick accent.

"This is Howard Stark's son, Mr. Mesman." The woman whispered. "Not only is the kid renowned for being a child genius but maybe he knows something."

The man turned back to him, squinting as he stared him down. Tony looked back at him, Mr. Mesman. He was wearing a suit and whenever he saw someone in a suit it was one of his dad's important business clients. He wasn't allowed to be rude to them and looking away while they were trying to talk was considered rude. Tony felt nervous sitting there in his pajamas.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Anthony Edward Stark." Tony said quickly. He was quickly shushed with a wave of the woman's hand and the man continued to look at him closely. "Tony, sir."

"Sir? That's the most polite thing he's ever said." The woman said.

"Are you rude, boy?" Mr. Mesman asked. Tony shrugged. "Don't shake your shoulders, boy. It's unbefitting."

"Sorry. My mama says I'm too rude to strangers but papa taught me to be respectful to important people. I learned that lesson, sir." Tony said quickly. Mr. Mesman seemed pleased and nodded.

He wrote down quickly onto a napkin and passed it over to him with a pen. Tony frowned at it, not because it was hard but because it was too easy. All he had to do was find the value of x and he quickly passed it back to Mr. Mesman who nodded again.

"If you prove not to be too much of a problem you might be worth the investment. How old are you?" He asked quietly. Tony spoke up quickly.

"I'm six. I can do a lot harder math than that. I'm on calculus with my tutor." He said proudly. Howard always told him not to act prideful but Tony didn't think it was a problem showing off how smart he was because his dad always brought it up to everyone. "I'm supposed to meet my tutor today anyway. Are you here to take me home?"

Mr. Mesman nodded after a moment and stood up. He waved for Tony to follow and they all stood up to leave. They paid for their coffee and walked out to the cars. Mr. Mesman handed the two a large bag and nodded.

"He better be worth it." He said firmly and opened his car door for Tony.

"If not you could just hold him for a few weeks and make another ransom demand. Might work after some time."

Tony bounced in his seat happily, buckling his seatbelt and watching as the man slid into the backseat next to him and instructed his driver to leave. He looked out the window quietly as the hours passed and the drove out of town and past the forest and into another town.

"Can I ask a question?" Tony said quietly. Mr. Mesman looked up from his newspaper and nodded. "When will we be getting to my house?"

"We're not going to your house. I have a private jet, we're going to my home in the Netherlands. I have big plans for you." He said, turning back to his paper.

"But you said you were taking me home. Clint promised." Tony said.

"People lie. You should get used that, probably pick up the habit yourself." Mr. Mesman said.

Tony looked back out the window. The car wasn't moving too fast for him to jump out but it was locked and he had no idea where he was. He looked back over at Mr. Mesman and frowned. "What do you want?"

"I want you to do everything I tell you to do. If I tell you to learn something, you learn it. I want you to be able to do so much more than you are doing now. I know potential when I see it and when I'm done with you we'll be able to change the world together. Just do everything I say." Mr. Mesman said, folding up his paper as they turned into the airport.

Tony unbuckled his seatbelt and looked out the window at the distant security guards. He could make a run for it. He could get a head start, he could make it. "If I don't?" He muttered.

"You'll be punished until you learn."


	4. Chapter 4

Tony was hungry. He left the plate of food sitting on the floor in the corner as he sat in the empty room and waited for someone to come and get him. After the plane landed Mesman drove him out to this house in the middle of the country and locked him in a small room upstairs. It was entirely empty except for the tiny bed by the window and no one came up to see him except for once when a woman brought up a plate of food.

The window looked out over the back of the property. There was a large stone gate that covered the lawn and Tony could just see over it at the miles of hills and trees. The worst part was that the sky was clear and growing dark quickly while the ground was perfectly dry. It was wet and rainy back home, Tony preferred it that way. If everything was so drastically different then they must have flown far.

"_Anthony, ik heb kleren voor je gebracht._" The woman said as she opened the door with a small pile of clothes in one hand. She walked in and placed the clothes on the bed before returning to the door.

"What's your name?" Tony asked quickly.

She paused for a moment, tilting her head before closing the door and leaving him alone again. He pulled off his shirt and picked up the clothes left on the bed. It was just a simple shirt with a pain of sweatpants but it was a soft, clean cotton and after days of walking around in clothes either too big or too dirty Tony thought it would be nice to change. Two granola bars fell from the pockets of his pajama pants when he put on his new pants.

Tony looked down at them and frowned. Clint must have left them there. It had been days since his last meal and although he had been refusing to eat his stomach was tightening up drastically in painful hunger. He dropped to the ground quickly and ripped open the wrapper, stuffing the bar into his mouth. He barely managed to finish it before he was ripping open the second one.

He threw his trash on the ground and moved towards the plate he left in the corner. Whatever it was it had gone cold and turned into a bland mush from hours of just sitting on the plate shoved into the corner. Tony didn't care. He ate it and then pushed the plate back into the corner before retreating back to the bed.

He pulled the covers over his head and looked up at the wood headboard. Tony didn't feel full but he also didn't feel like he was starving either so he thought of home. They were taking too long. Tony knew they must have been looking, it had only been a few days and his parents couldn't have forgotten him so easily. He pulled the blanket close as a chill ran up his spine.

"They forgot about me." He whispered. Howard and Maria were always so busy that they hardly ever noticed he was there unless he did something wrong. Jarvis was always there though, taking care of him. Aunt Peggy too, Tony knew that they were probably looking.

He turned back to the wooden headboard. He was going to learn everyone's names for when he's rescued. Aunt Peggy told him that bad people went to jail and Tony wasn't stupid enough to think that what was happening was okay. He was carving all the names into the dark wood of the bed with his thumbnail so he could remember. Buck, Jacques, Clint, and Mesman were scratched lightly into the wood.

He kept at it for several hours until the names stood out against the wood, a list of everyone who had helped take him and keep him away from home. Tony knew he probably spelt Jacques and Mesman wrong but as long as it was there to remind him then it didn't matter. He only wished he knew the names of the other two who helped take him.

When morning came the same woman who came to give him his dinner and his clothes shook him awake and spoke quickly. Tony didn't understand her but besides the quick urgency in her voice she seemed calm and not at all bothered by his presence. When he was first taken they all treated him like a burden and something to trade off later. Clint at least seemed interested in him, as if he was something that wasn't supposed to be there but wasn't necessarily wrong. Tony recognizes that look in Mesman's eyes as the same on that his mother had whenever she bought a new painting or got a new dress.

This woman just looked at him like child as she had him stand in the corner and handed him his plate and dirty clothes from the night before. She gave him a light pat on the head as he took it without complaint and turned to make the bed. He pulled the clothes and plate close so he could hold it in one arm and wiped away a few stray tears.

"_Nee nee nee, Anthony. Je gaat naar beneden om te ontbijten en ze zullen boos om je te zien huilen zijn."_ She said, folding the last of the blankets quickly and coming over to kneel in front of him. "_Anthony_?"

"Tony." He muttered. She wiped away the tears and took everything from his arms. "I don't know what you're saying."

She hesitated for a moment before nodding and grabbing his hand to lead him out the door. Tony wasn't ready for whatever they were doing. He wanted to go home and help Jarvis with the chores like he always did. It was usually around this time of the day when he would make Tony breakfast and then they would do the dishes together before his tutor.

"_Ah, Tony. Laat ons, Lotte._" Mesman said as they walked into the dining room. Tony stopped as the hand on his shoulder disappeared and he was alone with Mesman. "Come, sit, I'm just about to eat breakfast."

"What's her name?" Tony asked as he sat down at the table.

"Her name is Lotte. She is my wife. Excuse her, she never did want to learn English much. Perhaps you'll pick up Dutch while you're here." Mesman said. He grabbed a piece of toast off of one of the many plates sitting on the table. Tony reached forward to grab the bowl of biscuits. He felt like he could eat all of them. His hand was quickly swatted away.

"They're looking for me, you know." Tony said, pulling his hand to his chest. "They're going to find me so I don't care how mean you are, I'm leaving soon."

"First of all, you eat when you deserve it. You are allowed nothing here if you do not work for it. The dinner last night was a welcoming gift." Mesman said, not looking up from his plate. "Secondly, you've been missing for days. They're looking for a body at this point, not a little boy who was taken to another continent."

"But they'll recognize me when I go out." Tony said, voice dropping slightly. They thought he was dead. That would explain why they're not coming for him. "If I go to school or to a park they'll know who I am."

"You're not allowed out." Mesman said simply. He grabbed a book off the ground and placed it down in front of Tony. "Read the title and I will let you eat breakfast. If you can read the title then you can read the book."

Tony frowned. He had always been terrible with reading. It was the longer, more complicated words that stumped him. Just looking down at the cover he knew he couldn't read this.

"Co… copt… no." He whispered as he tried to read the first word slowly. Mesman sighed quietly as Tony continued on with the words. "Comp…Computer?" Tony looked up at him to make sure he got it right. Mesman nodded and Tony reached out again for the bowl of biscuits. This time his hand was grabbed quickly and he barely had time to flinch before Mesman slapped him with enough force to nearly knock him out of his chair. He was yanked back too look at the book.

"You eat when you finish reading the title. You still have a few more words to go." He said, releasing his bruising grip on Tony's hand.

"I can't. They're hard words. I'm only six." Tony sighed, rubbing his cheek and blinking away fresh tears.

"When Mozart was six he was a piano prodigy and composing his own music. You are supposed to be a genius and yet you are proving to be useless." He said, yanking the book away from Tony. "It says 'Computer Science and Programming'. Next month I want you to be able to read the whole book."

Tony leaned back in his chair and pouted at the assortment of food in front of him. There was a bowl full of chocolate chip muffins and he thought about grabbing them and hiding somewhere until he ate them all because there was no way he was going to be able to improve his reading in a month. He was hungry and ready to eat just when people decide he didn't deserve it.

Once Mesman finished eating he stood and looked down at him in silence. Tony didn't want to say anything. He felt exhausted and hungry so he just stayed in his seat and kicked his feet. The man's face visibly darkened.

"You know, as a growing boy I use up a lot of energy so it's important that I eat if I'm going to go about daily activities." Tony said. All the lectures Howard had given him about respecting important people and doing as he was told flashed through his mind as he spoke but he desperately ignored it. Howard wasn't coming so he was just going to hope for the best. He wasn't going to move until he was allowed to eat at least half of that pile of pancakes. Whoever cooked all of this must have known Mesman wasn't going to eat it all by himself and Tony didn't want it to be wasted. It was almost as if this feast was put out to taunt him.

He would have said more and probably would have tried to reach for the food again had he not been roughly yanked up by his arm and dragged out of the dining room. He looked around quickly at the house around him, memorizing it in case he ever had the opportunity to try to run away again. It was almost as big as his home but far more empty, not a person in sight walking down the various hallways or sitting in any of the many rooms they passed.

Eventually he was dragged outside, the sunlight pounding down on his face. Tony slammed his free hand over his eyes. After days of rain and clouds the sun seemed too bright. It was still rather chilly, the bright sunlight not doing much to warm him. He felt the firm grip on his arm disappear and he blinked down at his hands, adjusting to the light. Red finger marks were darkening quickly. Tony's hands shook as he watched them form against his pale skin next to the other handprints left behind from when everyone else decided he didn't deserve to be handled with care.

"Run laps." Mesman said, gesturing around at the large, walled off yard.

"What? No way. I'm starving and exhausted. I've barely eaten or slept in days and you want me to run laps around your back yard? You're going to kill me." Tony almost yelled. He looked up desperately, not seeing any pity from the man standing over him. "For how long?"

"You run until you can't anymore." Mesman said, grabbing Tony by the hair and shoving him forward.

Tony started jogging as slow as he can, trying to keep his breath deep and even as he looked up around the large property he was ordered to circle. He was barely half way around when his legs began to ache and a burn settled in his chest. By the time he finished one lap, which seemed like one long and miserable eternity, Merman had settled into a lawn chair on his patio and talked quickly into his cell phone. Tony didn't understand what he was saying but got one glance at the annoyance written on his face and kept running.

After a while it felt like his lungs were struggling just to expand and that if he stopped his legs would quit working all together. He kept running. If he stopped he didn't think he would be able to continue and he didn't want to know what sort of punishments this man had in mind.

He stopped counting laps. He didn't even think about running anymore, instead let his mind wander back home. Even if no one else was looking, Jarvis had to miss him and Aunt Peggy would at least try to figure out what happened. At least he hoped they would. He honestly didn't expect them to show up anymore. Tony knew he was annoying and rude most of the time, they might just be a little relieved.

Halfway back to the house he stumbled to a halt, unable to make his legs go any further. He dropped down onto the ground and fell onto his back as he inhaled too many quick, shallow breaths. He basked in the warm sunlight alone for several minutes, not wanting to go back in the house and not wanting anyone to come near him.

"You did well, almost half an hour." Mesman said, walking up to him after a while. Tony glanced curiously.

"I did a good job?" He asked. Mesman nodded and waved for him to stand. Tony groaned and pulled himself up. They walked slowly back to the house.

"You are exhausted so I'll allow you a shower and an hour nap. Then you'll be awoken to join us for lunch before you're returned to your room." He said, putting and hand on Tony's shoulder to rush him forward.

"Am I allowed to eat then?" Tony asked. Mesman nodded. "Yes! That's good because I probably ran off everything I've eaten this week and it would be terrible if I died after you paid however much you did for me. You know, for whatever reason."

"You are a very intelligent boy, Tony. However, I need you to be smarter, faster, and stronger." Mesman said as they walked into the house and towards the stairs. "We live in an information age and to have someone capable of getting into a place I cannot, learning its secrets, and having the skills of getting out, that is extremely valuable."

Tony shook his head as he forced himself up the stairs, ignoring the sharp pain shooting up his legs with each step. "I won't do it." He muttered. They stopped outside of a bathroom that was just across the hall from the room he had slept in the night before.

"You will."

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	5. Chapter 5

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After all the years Tony had lived in this house, with these people, he thought that this was the worst part of it. If he was incapable of doing something Mesman wanted him to do then he would be punished until he learned. He wasn't sure how much they paid to get him but Tony was starting to think it was a waste because although his reading had improved slightly and he could get pasted any standard or electronic lock in his way, there was no way he could remember exactly which objects lying around the house had ammonium nitrate in them. Although he did know what he could do with it once he got it.

This was one of the worst punishments of all. It wasn't a beating or harsh physical labor. This was just darkness. It was just a closet down the hall that they had taken the light bulb out of so when Tony was locked in he couldn't be able to turn it on and see.

He hated how cramped it was, they picked the smallest closet in the house. When he was a kid it wasn't so bad but now he couldn't even stretch his legs out. If he put his hand out in front of him to touch the walls, he could see nothing. His blank vision turned every small sound hat seeped in through the walls into something malicious.

He squeezed himself into the corner by the door and waited. At most he would be stuck in there all night. It was hard to gauge the time when he couldn't see anything and after a while his thoughts would run away from him. He couldn't tell if the moments that slipped by were seconds or hours and every time he heard a noise coming down the hall, sure that someone was coming to let him out. No one ever did and he was left alone wondering if he had imagined the sound.

Tony didn't hear anyone walk up when the door did actually open, many hours later. He just lifted his head from where it was buried in his shoulder and covered by his arm and blinked into the sudden light. It was overwhelming and hurt his eyes to look at but he was glad it was finally there.

"About time. How long was it this time?" Tony muttered at the blurry outline in front of him. He smiled at the distinct blond hair in front of him and the figure that was much too small to be Mesman's.

"10 hours. All night." Lotte said rapidly. Although he had picked up Dutch quickly when he was younger, he still spoke it far slower than she did. "Don't do that."

She reached over and wiped away a tear before it fell as his eyes continued to adjust to the sudden shift in light. He pushed himself off the ground and leaned against the wall. Ten hours was a long time, longer than he had thought it was. A few minutes ago, before she came to get him, Tony had assumed it was just a few hours. It was better than earlier, when the initial panic had set in and he thought he had been in there for days.

"Go to your room and rest. He doesn't expect to see you until dinner." She said calmly, holding a hand out to him. Tony frowned, his punishment was continuing and he wouldn't eat until dinner.

He didn't take it right away. Tony just took a few deep breathes before grabbing her hand going down the hall to his room, trying to relax after staying up all night in the dark. It was the same room they put him in when he arrived, the same room he had been staying in for years. Not much had changed, the small bed still had its wooden frame and the window still barely looked out over the wall in the backyard. He had managed to carve all the names of the people who put him here deeper into the headboard of the bed but they were meaningless now, just names of people he had nothing to do with anymore.

The room wasn't so empty either. Tony kept several boxes of metal and wires in case Mesman needed him to build something, just to prove that he could. Those were his favorite lessons. He would spend years studying engineering and computer books, trying hard to not stumble over the words as often as he usually does. He built his first computer at age eleven.

Lotte pulled him towards his bed and sat him down. "You're always so quiet once you leave there." She said quietly as she knelt down to pull off his shoes. "If you hate it so much you should stop misbehaving."

"I didn't do anything. I know how to find whatever it is he wants me to look for and I know how to put it to good use but he gave me fifteen minutes." Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The only thing I'm good at doing in that amount of time is running two and a half kilometers or taking apart the entire toaster. If I'm given another ten minutes I can probably build a tazer."

Lotte sighs as she pushes him down into the bed, pulling the covers over him. Tony melted almost immediately into his pillows as she started carding her hands through his hair. He forgot about her sighs and how disappointed she sounded. At the moment he was just too tired.

"You shouldn't be so stubborn with him. He's just trying to make sure you do your best." She muttered quietly.

"He's making sure I fail." He said. Tony tried not to lean into her light touches. He may not be fond of Mesman, with his harsh punishments and air of intimidation, but Lotte was always gentle.

"Then you will learn." Lotte said, leaning down and giving him a light kiss on the forehead. "Just listen to him and do what he says."

Then next time he opened his eyes he was alone. He pushed himself up and frowned as the knocking at his door continued.

"Tony, get washed up. We expect you for dinner in ten minutes." Lotte said, opening the door briefly.

He nodded as she disappeared behind it again and frowned at the window. The sun was going down over the back wall and he must have slept all day. Tony hated when he did that, fell asleep without noticing.

He quickly changed and walked across the hall to the bathroom. He still looked exhausted in the mirror and splashing water on his face did little to help. Delicious smells drifted in from the kitchen as Tony walked downstairs and went to wait in the dining room. He was early for dinner by a few minutes but it was better than being late.

Lotte was silently placing plates and silverware in three spots at the table. Large platters piled high with food were already sitting in the center. She nodded for Tony to take a seat in front of the stew. It was his favorite, diced meat and gravy that is usually served mashed potatoes.

Mesman walked in just after everyone else was seated. Once he sat down and reached forward to start filling up his plate everyone else started going for food too. Tony reached forward to grab a spoonful of potatoes. Once his plate was full he inhaled the delicious smell and lifted his fork.

"Tell me Tony, did you have time to reflect during the night?" Mesman asked. Tony sighed as he lowered his fork and looked over at him.

"Nah, just slept the whole night. I'm pretty sure everything I've done so far has been great." He said, frowning up at the man. "You're just overreacting."

"You are not living up to your potential. I am just trying to motivate you to be better." Mesman said coldly.

"You're trying to motivate me to do the impossible. I can't do it!" Tony said loudly. Lotte hummed as his voice rose higher and he sat back in his chair.

There was a quick moment of silence as Tony pushed his plate away and Mesman took a bite while continuing to glare at him. Lotte smiled softly as she stared at Tony, willing him to behave.

"How long have you been here?" Mesman asked after a few minutes. Tony shrugged.

"Thirteen years?" He asked.

"Just about. And you have learned much, I'm almost willing to put you up to the work I've been preparing you for." Mesman said, turning back to his plate.

"You're letting me out?" Tony asked. Mesman gave a slight nod. "Is this at all like that one time you let me out and I was stranded in Northern Canada for a month?"

"We had spent years making sure you knew how to survive in extreme environments. I only wanted to be sure you could retain that information if your life was actually on the line." Mesman said. "You did quite well."

"It wasn't even winter, Tony." Lotte said, smiling over to him. "And you were thirteen. Perfectly capable of taking care of yourself."

"There was snow. It was cold and no food anywhere." Tony muttered. He knew the argument was over. Lotte picked a side and when she did that Tony couldn't find any strength to go against her. "I ate a squirrel."

"And you survived for a month." Mesman said loudly. "You always bring up this argument as if something horrible happened to you. Nothing horrible has ever happened to you no matter what you think of it. We take care of you here. Now I expect you to take care of us and do as you're told."

Tony looked down at his untouched food for a second. He wasn't entirely sure what he was expected to do but if he was being allowed out and it wasn't for a survival exercise then it could be okay. He glanced up at Lotte, who nodded to him with a smile. After all the years locked in this house with only the two of them to keep him company, Tony preferred her the most. She was always kind and gentle while Mesman was angry and demanding. If she said it was okay then it must be. She never hurt him.

"What do you want?" Tony asked quietly.

"How well do you remember English?" Mesman asked.

"Perfectly, I think. It's been a while, you told me not to use it in front of Lotte because it's rude to leave her out of conversations." Tony said. "Why?"

He remembered that lesson well. He was getting the hand of their conversations in Dutch, which Tony was still struggling to understand. It had been several months since he had arrived, he was seeing his face and his parents less and less in the newspapers that Mesman always read around breakfast and when Tony asked Lotte what kind of muffins she made he was rushed out of the room as soon as he saw her head tilt in confusion. The bruises didn't fade for weeks and he picked up Dutch words a lot faster.

"I'm sending you to the United States. There is a professor at MIT I need you to contact." Mesman said, finishing his dinner and pushing the plate away. "Everything will be taken care of. You will have a place to stay, the bills will be taken care of, and I will make sure you have $50 a day to purchase food or anything else."

Tony nodded slowly. He would be alone? He had only been outside of the walls that surrounded the property a few times and if he was going to a populated area someone was sure to keep a close eye on him. He doubted he could make it very far on his own.

"You'll do great, Tony." Lotte said. "As soon as you get back I'll make the blueberry tarts you love so much."

Tony sighed. He didn't like it, didn't think he was ready. He was punished just the night before for not being good enough and now they were sending him out.

"What do you need?" Tony asked.

"It is a complicated assignment." Mesman said, looking down at him closely. Tony nodded. "He lectures on Nuclear Physics. He does a lot of classified work for the government so you will probably only be able to contact him at the University. We'll forge an education history for you, get you into the school."

"Complicated? How long will I be gone?" Tony asked. "Long enough to find a new family?"

Mesman's frown deepened. "Depends on if you can find anyone who can find use of you. I paid a lot of money for you and it's proving to be a waste." He said bitterly. "We'll go over the details later. The first part is just to get into the school and make contact with Dr. Banner. Can you do that?"

Tony nodded. He was being let out. The first thing he was going to do with his first day's fifty dollars and freedom was buying as many burgers as he could and sitting outside in a park. Tony smiled at the thought and excused himself to go to his room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author Note - To those who asked, yes. Tony is 19 now and he grew up with those people who confused him about what he wants and how to behave. Hopefully he'll be okay.**

Tony had a secret box under his bed full of granola bars, poptarts, and many other snacks. Usually when no one cooked breakfast Lotte just handed him something quick and packaged and sent him back to his room. He usually didn't eat them, he hardly ever ate if it wasn't the right time.

Tony ripped the packaging off of a small package of donuts and shoved two into his mouth before he started chewing. He pulled the box closer as he sat down on his bed and looked around the room. He grew up in this room. Even if Mesman told him he wasn't allowed to own anything he still considered the room his. Tony would stare out that window on rainy days, he would spend hours tinkering with his box of scrap metal and wires until he had something that worked, and he spent most of his time in here every day. This was his room, even if he would never admit it.

A hand went out to brush at the names carved into his headboard. The list of names he refused to forget. Buck, Jacques, Clint, and Mesman. They all had done their part in putting him in this situation, got him used to living here, and now they were getting rid of him.

He frowned when he reached into the empty box. A pile of discarded wrappers had formed on the ground over the edge of the bed while he was lost in thought. He felt sick, his stomach not sitting right after all the sugar he had just consumed especially since he hadn't had a full meal in a few days.

Now came his favorite part, hiding the evidence. He picked up the small pile of garbage and slowly walked out of his room. It was really late, possibly early, so Mesman and Lotte were sound asleep on the other side of the house where he wasn't allowed to go. He deposited a small handful of wrappers into the bathroom garbage can before heading downstairs.

He didn't want to go too quickly, fearing he might throw up with the amount of sweets he ate so quickly, so he took the steps one at a time. After dumping another small handful into the trashcan by the front door, he made his way to the kitchen.

"Why do you still do that?" Lotte asked as he entered the room, sighing at the small bundle of snack wrappers he had left in his hands. She was sitting at the kitchen island, cup of tea in front of her.

"He notices if there are too many in one trashcan. Mesman is annoyed enough as it is that I ignore dinner." Tony said calmly. He dumped what was left in his hand into the trash before walking over and sat down in the stool next to her. "Besides, I was only getting rid of what I had left."

"Yes, but it's not healthy. You leave when the sun comes up and you will be gone for a while. Promise me you will take care of yourself." She said. Tony smiled and leaned over to rest his head on her shoulder.

"I don't want to leave." He whispered. Lotte reached up and softly carded her fingers through his hair. Tony loved her, she was always kind and gently and no matter what terrible thing he had done to warrant a punishment he could always trust her to take care of him and never hurt him. "I want to stay here with you and my room. I don't want to go out there, I wouldn't know what to do. I don't know what the rules are out there."

It was quiet for a few moments as Tony kept his head rested and Lotte continued to stroke his hair. "You're doing a good thing, you know. After so many years of us taking care of you it is your turn to take care of us." She said after several minutes. "This is important for all of us. If this doesn't get done then I'm worried about what might happen to us. You'll do great though." Lotte turned her head to give him a quick kiss on the forehead before reaching for her tea.

Tony pulled away slowly after she shrugged him off. "I said I would do it, don't worry about me backing out. I'm just worried is all." He said, frowning as he glanced at the clock. Three in the morning, he only had two hours left. "I still don't know about what I'm allowed to do when I get to Boston, what I should say to people, what is going to happen when I mess up."

"You want rules?" Lotte asked. Tony nodded slowly. He liked rules, even if he didn't follow them then at least then he knew a punishment was coming. "Alright. I will give you rules. You do not talk about your life here, if anyone asks about home you start making up stories based off of that show Full House. You're not allowed to fight anyone. You cannot tell anyone the true reason for why you are there. Sleep eight hours a night and finally, you have to eat three meals a day seven days a week."

"I think I can handle most of that." He said.

Lotte stood up to put her cup in the sink and gave him another quick kiss on the forehead before leaving. Tony sighed. He still didn't want to leave. He knew what to do here, he knew what would happen if he didn't do what he was supposed to, and it was all worked out in his head. He had a system here, he had nothing out there.

Tony just sat quietly in his room until the sun started peeking up over the edge of the wall and Mesman started calling for him loudly from the bottom of the stairs. He did one final glance around the room before exiting. Everyone was waiting for him once he got downstairs.

"Are you ready to leave? Do you have your passport?" Mesman asked.

"Yeah, it would definitely be a shame if I forgot that." Tony said, pulling out of his pocket.

He meant to give Lotte a quick hug before he left. Instead he ended up clinging to her for several minutes. He thought about just stopping everything because the last thing Tony wanted was to leave Lotte. When she was around that meant he was safe and okay. After everything she had done for him, he didn't know how he was expected to just abandon her.

"Tony, it's time to go now." Lotte said, pulling his hands away from her shoulders. "Remember, you're taking care of us now."

He nodded and followed Mesman out the front door. Tony didn't say anything as he climbed into the waiting car. He just looked back at the house as Mesman slid into the backseat with him and signaled his driver to go.

The house seemed much bigger from the front. Whenever Tony was allowed outside it was always in the walled off back yard where he couldn't see most of the building. As they drove away he could see just how large it truly was. He had explored every area he was allowed to be in and yet from the outside the towering brick walls and dark windows made it seem so much bigger and almost oppressing.

"Am I allowed to call?" Tony asked once the house was too far away to see. Mesman shook his head. "What about write? What if something happens and I need to get a hold of you?"

"You will be fine. You know the plan and if anything happens then it'll be fine. Contacting us would only make things more difficult." Mesman said, switching over to English. Tony frowned at the language. It had been a while since he used it. Not long enough for him to forget but long enough to make it sound awkward.

"What if everything fails and I'm left over there? I have no way of contacting you. You're throwing me to the dogs." Tony said. His eyes snapped to the window as they drove past several buildings. They were getting closer to the city.

"You are perfectly capable of surviving on your own. You have money and you have a place to sleep. That's all you need at the moment." Mesman whispered harshly. "If everything goes wrong then I have faith in your abilities to get yourself out of trouble and get back here. I made sure you had the skills to do so. If not then you might as well not come back at all."

"Right. I'm sorry." Tony sighed.

It was silent the rest of the drive. Tony didn't have anything else to say and he knew he wasn't supposed to. Mesman was getting close to that line between annoyed and angry and Tony didn't want to cross it. They didn't want to contact him while he was away so that was that, he was going to be completely alone.

Once they reached the airport, Tony grabbed his one bag from the trunk and waved to the car as it drove away. He knew how to get through airport security and he didn't have anything dangerous on him. Except for his passport and id with a fake name everything he had on him was completely legal.

He ignored everyone else. This was more people than he could ever remember being around. Everything was too loud. He wasn't used to all the noise and chaos. There were people everywhere, yelling, running around, and Tony hated all of it. He smiled at passing families as he walked over to the area he was supposed to wait to board his plane and sat as far from everyone else as possible.

Tony reserved himself to people watching. Everyone in the waiting area either looked bored or was pouring over cameras with their group. He zoned in and out of different conversations as they passed and everyone seemed to be someone going home after a trip.

Once he was on the plane he just stared out the window. He liked the plane. It was smaller than the airport and had walls. Tony didn't like the never ending expanse of the outside. Everyone seemed to quiet down too once they were seated and the plane started to move.

Tony thinks it was because that he hadn't slept at all the night before and that the quiet hum of the plane's engines were rather soothing that he fell asleep. All he knows is that one minute he's flying peacefully over Europe and the next his head is snapping up off of the window as his ears pop painfully and they're descending into Boston.

He went through immigration fairly quickly, answering every question they had with a prepared statement and when they searched his one bag all they found was a pile of clothes, a map of the city, and information on the university. When he was finally out of the airport he took one look around at the United States and then got a taxi.

Tony's apartment was only a few blocks away from MIT. It was rather empty, only one bedroom, one bathroom and very little furniture. There was no food in the kitchen either, though he shouldn't have to worry about that for a few days. Mesman had given him a card and everyday $50 was supposed to appear on it. He did have a bit of extra money at the moment because he had to go buy his textbooks and anything else he needed before class started the beginning of next week.

Then he just had to find a way to befriend Dr. Banner and get a look at his research on Gamma Radiation. That shouldn't be too hard, Tony thought of himself as a likeable person. He planned on going shopping later, seeing everything the US had to offer after he had gotten a proper nap because even after an 8 hour flight he still seemed a bit tired and there was no one around to tell him to get it done.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony didn't end up leaving the rest of the week. He didn't see a need to go out when he was needed in his new apartment. The locks on the doors were ridiculous, he realized. If he jiggled them enough they would pop right open. He spent most of an afternoon fixing the locks on all the doors and windows. He then had to fix all the doors to the cabinets in the kitchen. The electrical wiring in the whole place was faulty and he spent another day on that to get the lights to stop flickering. Once everything was fixed Tony just found that he had nothing to do and it had only been three days.

It wasn't until the first morning of classes that he realized he didn't have his textbooks, didn't even have a single notebook. All the clothes that were bought for him before he left were still in his bag in the corner of the bedroom, unpacked. He put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a logo he didn't recognize and grabbed his wallet.

The bookstore was open and full of students making last minute purchases. Tony weaved through the crowed, careful not to accidently touch someone, and made his way towards the shelves of textbooks. He looked through the list and grabbed all the books he needed before heading towards the section full of supplies. He grabbed a handful of notebooks, a package of pencils, and a backpack before he made his way to the cash registers.

He stood in line for several minutes before he paid for everything and left. He still had an hour before his first class started. There was a bustling of crowds and groups of students that passed by on the sidewalks and chatted excitedly about the day to come.

Tony watched them from where he sat on one of the benches outside as he filled up the backpack he just bought with all of his books. Everyone walked quickly as they passed, hurrying towards their destinations and looking around at the campus. He didn't quite understand what they were so happy about, they were all probably far from home and had no idea what they were doing.

When it was finally time for his first class he arrived early and sat in the back. It was a calculus course, he usually excelled in math and Mesman was always pleased with his performance so he wasn't too worried. The lecture hall filled slowly with enthusiastic students and a low murmur engulfed the room.

"Nervous? Me too. I can't believe I'm actually here. I mean, this is MIT!" A young man said as he slipped into the seat next to Tony. He shifted around uncomfortably as he stared up at the chalk boards in the front and the podium for the professor. He looked at the seats closer to the front fondly and sighed.

"For someone so excited to learn, you got here a bit late." Tony muttered, pulling a notebook out of his backpack and glancing up as the professor entered the room.

"I know. First day, everyone shows up early on the first day. I barely got here just in time." He said, getting out his own notebook as the lecture began and numbers and equations began to fill the boards.

The class passed quickly. It was all material he had already known, basic math that had been pounded into his head within his first year with Mesman. Tony didn't even both to take notes. The boy beside him filled his notebook eagerly, eyes never coming off of the professor.

Tony flipped through his textbook for the class. As he suspected, he recognized all of the math. He didn't think he even needed to show up after today, he didn't even need to pass. His only priority at the moment was getting to Banner.

"Hey, buddy. You wanna get lunch? I'm starving and I was too busy to eat on the way here." The teenager next to him asked. Tony didn't acknowledge him right away until he asked again.

"Buddy?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. You're pretty much the only person I've talked to so far and seeing how we have a class together it's worth a shot to try to make new friends." He said quickly, packing up his things into his backpack. "I'm Peter."

"Friends." Tony said slowly. "Oh, no. You don't want to be friends with me. I'm rude and not very good at anything and I'll end up eating all the pizza." Peter nodded slowly.

Tony looked closely at him. They seemed to be about the same age and his hair was a much lighter brown and he was several inches taller. Tony couldn't be his friend, he was here for something serious and important. He didn't have time for friends. He wasn't even sure how it all worked, he never had one before. There were certainly social codes in place to tell him when he was supposed to do something with friends and when he wasn't and Tony wasn't sure what those codes were and what would happen to him if he failed. Also, it was entirely true about the pizza. Lotte made it every so often for a meal and it as delicious he ate all of it, making everyone else annoyed.

"I don't care. I can order more." Peter said, smiling softly. "Still starving. So lunch?"

Tony shook his head as he stood to leave. He didn't need to get distracted. The sooner he got this all finished the sooner he could get back. He had one more class that day. A lecture on applied nuclear physics with Dr. Banner so that was the one thing that really mattered. It was two hours away.

He was actually hungry. He hadn't eaten since that box of junk food several days earlier and he felt like he was finally ready to actually eat again. There was a Dunkin Donuts on campus. Tony had never been, he never left the house back before this and for various training exercises. Still, he liked coffee and he liked donuts.

The names of what he ordered didn't make any sense. It wasn't any English he was familiar with and he wasn't sure if they had a Dutch translation but it sounded interesting enough. He sat down at an empty table with his Frozen Caramel Coffee Coolatta and Croissant Donut and continued his usual activity of watching everyone else as they walked past the windows.

He wasn't sure where the habit of watching people had come from but there it was. He was just interested in them. Everyone seemed so calm about everything, unafraid of what might happen if they make a mistake and fail everything they work for. They probably weren't expecting punishment for if they did something wrong.

"Hey, there you are. You forgot your textbook." Peter said, walking in and holding a book gingerly in his hands.

"Are you following me?" Tony asked, grabbing the book from his hands. "That's creepy. Never expected to have a stalker on my first day."

"Okay, not really stalking. You just left your book and I wanted to make sure you had it so you could get the reading done." He said. "And with the way your eyes got all emotional when I mentioned lunch I just decided to check places to eat in the area and here you are."

Tony frowned at him for a second. He wasn't sure what to do, what behavior was appropriate for this situation. Peter brought his book to him, he appreciated that so he had to give him something in return. He wasn't sure what he wanted though.

"I don't do readings." Tony said, nodding for him to sit down. Peter's smile widened as he took the invitation and plopped down into the seat. "Doesn't mean we're friends."

"Hey, I'll take it. I don't make friends easily anyway. What's your name?" He said.

"Tony. But before you ask me about myself, I can't tell you. I'm a European spy sent to steal America's secrets." Tony said, watching closely for his reaction. Peter laughed. One of the most effective ways to lie was to tell the truth.

They sat talking for a little while, mostly about where they were from and what classes they were taking. Tony made up stories from the show Full House, just like he was told to do. A lot of the bullshit he was saying did sound nice. Peter had an aunt back in New York. He wouldn't say much else.

Although Tony insisted that they still weren't friends, he couldn't get distracted if he wanted to get back soon, they did exchange numbers. He said it was more for Peter's benefit than his own.

Tony went to his last class for the day. He was ten minutes early and took a seat close to the front to get a good view and yet still hear the doors being opened if anyone came or went. Dr. Banner was already there, smiling softly at everyone who entered and quickly going through a stack of papers.

Tony pulled out his book and waited to start taking notes. He had to do well in this class if he was going to catch Banner's attention. That was the simplest way of getting a look at whatever research he was doing.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Dr. Banner and welcome to Applied Nuclear Physics. You're all probably going to hate this class but I'm going to love teaching it so here we go." He said once the class was full and everyone was seated. "I'm not going to lecture right away. Today I want to focus on what you guys are interested in before we jump into the lesson plans. Go ahead, ask any question."

No one spoke for a few seconds as everyone flipped through their textbooks and their notes. Tony glanced down at his textbook as well. He wasn't planning on asking anything. He couldn't understand most of the book, the words were too long and the letters seemed misplaced. It would take more time than he had to figure out what it said right now.

"What's the most radioactive element?" A voice perked up from farther back in the class.

"Most scientists and texts would say it's polonium. Polonium is so radioactive is glows blue, which is caused by excitation of the gas particles by radiation. A single milligram of polonium emits as many alpha particles as 5 grams of radium." Banner said, pausing for a second with a nod before continuing. "Any other questions?"

The room exploded into a loud ramble of questions and Dr. Banner trying to quiet them down until they spoke one at a time. Half the questions, mostly about generators, fusion, and radiation, Tony could have answered himself but he continued to sit quietly. Tony had an idea of what he was doing, getting questions out of the way so that once learning began they could focus on the topic.

Once class was over Tony just left. He wasn't going to do anything right away, he had to be patient no matter how much he wanted to leave and get back. On a more optimistic note, Dr. Banner was looking students who wanted to intern for some of his research. He would start interviewing next week. It was perfect.

Tony stopped by the store before he headed back to the apartment. He needed everything, after several days of just staying in and not leaving he had to restock. He grabbed several packages of toilet paper, random cans of food, shampoo, and conditioner along with various other things he might need now that he was out on his own. Once he finally got back he just put his bags in a corner, left his backpack on the ground, and crawled into bed. He curled up under the covers and closed his eyes, not falling asleep.

He was just tired. It was a long day, dealing with more people than he had ever been around and trying to deal with the fact that he had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with his free time, he didn't know what time to wake up in the morning or what time to go to bed, he didn't know how much of his books he should read. No one was around to tell him what to do so he decided if he wasn't scheduled to be somewhere and if he wasn't in need of something he had to go out for, he would just stay right here.


	8. Chapter 8

"Tell me about yourself, Tony." Bruce said. Dr. Banner's office was bright, with large windows that looked out over campus and the walls were painted a warm color that absorbed the sunlight. It was also messy, with piles of books that never made it to shelf and heaps of paper that stuck out of the folders laying around on the desk.

"What do you want to know?" Tony asked.

"Oh, you know, where are you from? What are your hobbies? What's your favorite color? Stuff like that." Bruce said.

Tony blinked a few times. He had no idea what these questions had to do with an internship and didn't honestly know how to go about answering them. They were innocent enough, the not looking to be exploitive or threatening. He just pondered them for a second, wondering how to go about answering them.

"I am from the Netherlands, it should say so in my record. I like… building stuff and science. Red is nice." Bruce nodded, writing something down on the notebook in front of him. Tony didn't let the moment of hesitation grow too long. "I once build a complete working circuit board before I could even ride a bicycle."

Bruce smiled at that. Tony felt relieved, he didn't know how to impress him. Dr. Banner was a leading expert on gamma radiation and Tony couldn't think of a single thing he had done that was worthy of praise.

"You speak English very well. How did you learn it?" Bruce asked. Tony had to hide his disappointment. He didn't know how to talk about himself, he thought the interview would be more about discussing what he would be doing and what his research was about. Tony had never had to talk about himself before.

"I learned it when I was very young. I also watch some American tv when I have time." Tony said. It was the truth. Although Mesman was very strict about what Tony was allowed to watch, he and Lotte liked to spend Saturday afternoons watching Full House or I Love Lucy with Dutch subtitles. "I also try to read a lot."

"You try? Too busy?" Bruce said. Tony shook his head.

"No, I'm terrible. The words just don't make sense. I blame our ancestors, who all got together and decided the letter needed to look as stupid as possible." He said. He didn't think it was that funny, just stating an opinion but Bruce laughed anyway. That had to be good, he was making an impression.

"I suppose you have a point." Bruce said. "So tell me about your education."

Finally, the questions Tony had practiced and went over. He could recite he false background in his sleep. He put on his most convincing smile and leaned forward in his chair. "I took a few classes back in the Netherlands. I did very well but that's to be expected."

It was a lie. A simple enough one to put together because it wasn't that hard to forge an educational background to get someone into more advanced classes. Bruce didn't even bat an eye at the information so he most likely believed it. Tony wasn't worried, he knew the material whether or not he took classes. The only thing that mattered at the moment was getting a look at Banner's research.

"I see you live off campus. How do you like living by yourself?" He asked.

"Oh, god. It's a nightmare. I have to do laundry, I've never done laundry before. I had to buy five new pairs of pants a few days ago because I bleached half of my stuff. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing at any moment of the day and I can't even ask for advice because then I would probably look stupid." Tony uttered out quickly. Once again, the truth.

"Trust me on this, no one on any college campus in the world has any idea what they're doing. They're just going with it and ruining the laundry. And ruining the dishes too. And here's some advice, always buy more toilet paper before you run out." Bruce said, smiling softly.

Tony returned the smile. Bruce just seemed to take everything Tony said to him and turned it into some pleasant little conversation and Tony was immensely grateful. He could talk, if he found something to talk about he was prone to annoy Mesman and Lotte immensely with his nonstop ramblings. The trouble was just finding something that peeked his interest, like how much he hated living on his own.

"So tell me, why are you interested in the position?" Bruce asked.

Tony was prepared for this question and nodded as he leaned forward to speak. "Well, Dr. Banner, your work in gamma radiation is brilliant and the research you did on neut-."

"Tony, you're a nineteen year old college student in a new country. You're not actually looking into an unpaid internship because of the actual research, are you?" Bruce said, cutting him off. Tony froze instinctively. His mind immediately started analyzing every word they said to each other, every small movement Bruce had made. Tony had failed, his cover had been blown and he had no idea how. He'd been trained for this though, even if he was caught just keep on lying and never ever admit anything. A quick glance up to Bruce just confused him more. He didn't look angry, like he was about to lash out for the threat Tony has caused to all the hard work he was doing. Instead he just looked at him with amused curiosity.

"Boredom?" Tony said hopefully, there was always a chance he could salvage this. Then he could complete his mission and go home and then everything would be normal again. He could handle Mesman's hateful gaze, even if Tony didn't like the guy most of the time, because at least over there he knew exactly what actions would illicit which responses and Lotte would always be there to hold him and tell him he was okay. "Entertainment, I guess. I need something to fill my time and I don't find anything interesting in bar hopping. I like to stimulate my mind. Talking to normal people can be rather draining."

Bruce nodded. "Well, this isn't going to be much fun either. I'm getting two interns, mostly to run errands, bring coffee, notebooks, organize, help out a bit on the research I have been working on with Dr. Ross, stuff like that." He said calmly.

Tony felt the weight melt off of his chest. Of course he was fine.

"Anything to fill the time, sir." Tony said. Bruce tensed slightly with a shake of the head.

"I like you. You're funny, smart, and I don't care if you can't do laundry just as long as you know how to pick up dry cleaning." Bruce said, smiling again. Tony noticed he had done that a lot. Probably a good sign.

"Is internship code for free labor?" Tony asked.

"It is in this country." He said, standing and holding out his hand. "I'll give you call within the week."

Tony shook his hand and walked quickly out of the office. He wanted to just go straight home, be done with the day and just wait. His phone vibrated as he started walking down the sidewalk but he ignored it. The only person who had his number was Bruce, it was too early for him to call, and Peter, and Tony knew exactly what would happen if he answered. Whatever weird friendship he was being forced into so far consisted of texting and being roped into hanging out for a while after their calculus class together.

He hadn't been out very much at all between classes, stayed in all weekend, refusing to do anything or see anyone. Peter offered to come over but the thought almost made Tony sick. How could he possibly explain the empty apartment to that guy? Peter still insisted they hang out though.

His vibrated again a few minutes later, this times just once to indicate a text. He glanced at it quickly and frowned. 'I was kicked out of math class for one too many infractions.' That was disheartening. They had their math class together and Tony hadn't once seen Peter excuse himself during lecture let alone get an infraction.

'That's terrible. What are you going to do?' Tony sent the message and continued walking. His phone vibrated within seconds, indicating a response.

'I read this book on antigravity, I couldn't put it down.' Now it's just getting confusing.

'What does that have to do with getting kicked out of class? Was it because you just read through it?' Tony didn't even bother trying to get home. He just stood on the sidewalk and waited for his phone to go off again. It didn't take long.

'Really? Where are you? Are you out of your interview? Of course you are, otherwise you wouldn't be texting. Meet me at Koch Café.'

Tony didn't answer the text. He was already on Main Street, just a short walk down to meet up with Peter but he was already planning on going home. However, blending in was just as important at the moment to portraying a college student as actually being enrolled in the school. Apparently most college students had friends.

He sighed and headed for the direction of The David H. Koch Institute where the Kock café was located at its heart. Tony had been there before. They served Starbucks drinks. It was his first time drinking it and the coffee was amazing.

Peter smiled as he entered, waving him over from his table. He had a camera hanging around his neck and books and papers scattered about in front of him. Tony wasn't going to ask.

"Honestly, do they not have puns in Europe? If they don't then I'm never leaving the good old USA. Maybe Canada." He said as Tony sat down.

"They probably have more English puns in England." Tony said with a shrug.

"Yeah, blame the language gap. I'm going to teach you puns. Then when you go back to you barbaric punless land you can teach them the new ways." Peter smiled wickedly as he held him camera up to his face and took a picture of the young woman at the register.

"I might not be a willing pupil." Tony muttered. Peter turned slowly to take a picture of a staircase just outside of the cafe. "What are you doing?"

"Aunt May wants all the pictures of my life out here. And that means a shot of everything. Plus, the campus is just teeming with so many beautiful photography opportunities. The place is just stunning and everyone is just so lively most of the time." Peter said.

"You took a picture of a staircase." Tony said, smiling slightly. "Was it a beautiful staircase?"

"Yes!" Peter's voice had a slightly offended edge to it. "I like the food and I always look at that staircase and watch everyone come and go when I come here. Aunt May wants to see snapshots of my life, she's going to see that staircase. Also, you want lunch? I'll get you a slice of pizza or something."

Tony glanced over at the staircase, he could see the appeal. It was nice, clean, and structurally sound. His mind wandered a bit to his schedule, he didn't think it was quite the right time for that yet. He had been a bit lax with his meals lately but he wanted to get back into routine.

"What day is it?" Tony asked.

"Wednesday." Peter replied quickly.

"No. Not hungry right now." He said, shrugging. Peter glanced down at his burrito and opened his mouth to object. Tony needed to change the subject. "Tell me about your Aunt."

Peter's eyes brightened at the suggestion. He looked around at the papers on the table in front of him and opened his mouth a little as if struggling to figure out how to start. "Well, she's great. She practically raised me, her and my Uncle Ben. She puts up with me and all my odd behaviors. Trust me on this, the past few years I've only gotten weirder."

"You used to be normal?" Tony says. It surprises himself. He talks back to Mesman a lot, he knows he does. It's one of the few rules he breaks simply because he knows he won't be punished too harshly for it. It's not like he cares much for Mesman anyway, he would never say any of those harsh things to Lotte.

Peter doesn't look angry though, he laughs. "Not entirely, just a little bit. That was before I met Gwen though and all the really weird stuff started happening."

Peter's head dipped down at that, frowning and looking away. It peeked Tony's interest. He wanted to know, he was going to find out.

"Weird things? Did this Gwen teach you to gamble and then you won the property and money of a drug lord and had to change names?" Tony said. Obviously not what happened, but people usually like to defend themselves.

"What? No." Peter said with a soft laugh. "Gwen was great. She was sweet, kind, and smart. The weird things were kinda my fault and they ruined everything."

Tony sighed. Great, now Peter was sad. This was why he couldn't have friends, he made them talk about things that made them sad. Tony looked quickly at his hands and desperately tried to think of a way to fix it.

"It's not your fault." Tony said. Peter's head snapped up as if to say something but Tony just continued. "I don't know what happened but you're one of the nicest people I've ever met so I know you would never do anything bad to someone. If we make mistakes we just have to acknowledge it and do our best in the future. It's how we learn."

There was just a quiet moment of hesitation as Peter just bit his bottom lip. "When did you get so wise? You're the same age as me but I swear you should have a white beard and live in a castle on a mountain or something."

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. I made a lot of mistakes and I had to learn from them rather quickly." He said quietly. He didn't want to talk about that. Not the days spent as they tried to beat new skills into his memory. He wanted to focus on something happier. "You loved her?"

"Yeah." Peter sighed. A soft smile was brushing his lips and his fingers drummed lightly at his camera. "She was brilliant. Graduated top of our class. She was funny too, wanted a house made of chocolate. God, was she beautiful."

"She sounds great." Tony said.

"She was." Peter nodded. He looked up at him and smiled. "Enough about me, how did your interview go?"

"Horribly, talked about myself the whole time." Tony said. "Anyway, that's my cue to leave." Peter lifted his camera quickly and took a picture of Tony as he stood up. Tony's face fell. "You have to burn that picture."

"Not a chance." Peter said. "And thanks."

Tony didn't argue or say 'you're welcome'. He just turned to leave. That wasn't supposed to happen. At least, he didn't think it was. Everyone was supposed to forget about him once he was done and now a photograph would be floating around. Oddly enough, Tony didn't mind. Peter was sending them to his Aunt as tokens of his life, which Tony was now a part of.


	9. Chapter 9

Tony waited just outside the office on his first day. His hands gripped the hem of his new t-shirt firmly as he waited for the door to open and for Dr. Banner to instruct him on what to do. The other intern was there as well, lightly tapping his foot as he casually glanced up at the clock.

"I hope we don't end up filing papers or running to get coffee all day. I'm looking forward to seeing nuclear physics in action." He said, leaning over to Tony.

"Maybe we'll get superpowers like in the movies." He muttered. Tony liked those movies, the old black and white ones where a mad scientist has a lab accident and becomes part cockroach or starts moving things with their minds. "Not sure I can handle the responsibility though. I mess everything up."

"That's okay. We're teenagers, we're allowed to mess up." He said.

Tony frowned, shaking his head slightly. That was wrong, so very wrong. Messing up was failing and he didn't know what punishment he would receive if he failed at this. A sense of dread crawled into the pit of his stomach, clenching tight and making him want to throw up. It was entirely possible that everything after this moment could go the exact opposite of how he wanted and then he would have to go back in shame and fear.

The worst punishment he remembered happening was when he was nine. Most of the time when company was over he was never allowed to leave his room but he would get curious. He could hear them laughing loudly from the dining room, muffled voices discussing conversation he had no business listening in on and yet he crept silently towards the stairs. He sat down on the steps, just low enough where he could hear the conversation more clearly but not see directly into the dining room.

He didn't understand most of it, just conversations about politics and trade. Tony was just happy to hear other people talk, to just be near someone else after so long alone in that house. Lotte walked out of the dining room though, heading straight for the bathroom. They both froze when they saw each other. She didn't say anything as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up to his room and he didn't utter a word.

Mesman came by several hours after that. They had to change the locks on his door again, hoping it would stop him from getting out, and Tony still had the scars running up his back from just how angry he had been that night and sometimes he still rubbed at his ankles long after the ache had passed. He liked knowing what the rules were and he liked knowing what was going to happen when he broke them. It gave him something to expect. Needless to say he never really felt like breaking that rule again, but at least he knew what would happen.

"I'm James, by the way." The other intern said, holding his hand out and catching Tony's attention. "James Rhodes."

"Tony." He shook the kid's hand and smiled. "So, how much are we allowed to screw up before we're fired?"

"I don't know, probably a lot. Banner's pretty laid back and he spends most of his time out in his lab with Dr. Ross anyway." James said.

The door to Bruce's office opened abruptly and he waved them both in, smiling at them. The room seemed to have gotten messier since Tony was there the week before for his interview and he glanced around at all the stacks of books, papers, and folders with curiosity.

"Thank you for coming and I hope you guys have a happy first day on the job. I picked you guys because you are both not only funny and I like you but because you both are doing pretty good in your classes and passed the background checks so I know you aren't serial killers or anything else that would be bad." Bruce said quickly, glancing down at his watch. "Today I just need you guys to go through all those folders and label them by content. There should be a header at the top of the page saying what it's about and what to label them by. Then just file them all in that cabinet over there."

Bruce waved over at the various stacks of folders and papers. Tony could do this, it didn't seem that difficult at all. He smiled as he sat down at the largest piles of folders. Not only was he given a job for the guy he was supposed to be spying on but his first order was to go through all of his stuff. James just sighed as he went for the smallest pile.

Tony was careful to scan the folder as quickly as he could, mumbling the words under his breath as he tried to read. Luckily it was all mostly numbers and graphs. None of it seemed important though, nothing to do with anything that Mesman told him to look for. He quickly labeled the folder and put it in a separate pile to be filed later.

"What are you doing later?" James asked. Tony shrugged.

"If you're going to hold out the branch of companionship I have to tell you I'm not friendly." He said. "Why does everyone want to be my friend?" James just smiled looked back down at the folders around his feet.

"I don't care what you guys do just as long as there are no drugs, weapons, or serial killers and you do your jobs." Bruce said as he tapped quickly on his computer.

"So being a regular killer is fine? Okay." James said calmly. Tony shook his head and continued filing. "Anyway, there's a big movie night going on in my building and since we're going to be working together it could be a great opportunity to get to know each other. Maybe get some studying done and talk about how much we love our new jobs."

Bruce gave a soft chuckle. Tony sighed, still going through his stack of folders. It might be easier to get this all done if he was on everyone's good side. He might even like the movie. But he didn't know how many people were going and he would be completely alone with everyone there.

"Can I bring someone?" Tony asked. James nodded. That was good, Peter probably likes movies. "What are we all watching?"

"Alien. It's an American classic. Everyone on Earth should see it." He said quickly, putting the last of his folders in the larger pile and dragging them over to the filing cabinet.

"I haven't." Tony muttered, scanning another folder.

He stopped, staring at the words in front of him. He read them over and over against to make sure he was reading them correctly. Government contracts to recreate Project Rebirth from the 1940s. That was what Bruce was doing with his experimentations with gamma radiation, trying to make the super soldier serum.

Tony closed the folder quickly and just labeled it 'contracts' before tossing it to the side. James had apparently decided that since he hadn't seen Alien then he would have to describe every single detail of the plot. He had missed most of it as he focused on reading through the folders and filing them correctly in alphabetical order as instructed but nodded along whenever there was a pause.

Eventually the filing was all done and Bruce's office looked a great deal tidier and he let them go. James gave Tony the time and address for when the movie was supposed to start and he texted Peter, who happily agreed to go.

Tony went home. He still had a few hours and wanted to write down everything so he could remember it for later. He knew about Project Rebirth and Captain America and if gamma radiation was the answer then Mesman might have big plans for it and Tony wasn't going to ask too many questions.

He scribbled down the information, the names of the military generals who hired him, what they were trying to do, how they were doing it, and anything else that seemed important. Now he just had to get his hands on the actual research and he would be one step closer to getting home.

'I can't believe you've never seen Alien. Ready to go when you are.' The message read. Tony sighed, the movie must have been a big deal for these guys. When he watched movies and tv it was always something Lotte picked so he never thought much about what he wasn't watching.

"So, what's his name?" Peter asked. Tony met up with him just a few blocks away from the building to walk the rest of the way.

"James Rhodes. I work with him and he invited me. You guys might like each other, seems friendly enough." Tony said. Peter shrugged.

"James is such a weirdly professional name though. Does he have a nickname? What do we call people named James? Jamie?" He said.

"Why can't we just call him by his name?" Tony asked.

"I am on a mission to make as many friends as possible and nicknames derived from an actual name is an amazing method I learned from the internet." Peter said. "I call you Tony because that's probably already short for something. Unless you have Tony on your birth certificate. That would be weird."

"It's not on my birth certificate." Tony said quickly. He doubted he had one. He had never seen it. "Why don't you just call him Rhodes?"

"I'm not calling him by his last name, that's cold and emotionless. Unlike you, I'm trying to make friends." Peter shook his head.

"Well, we could always just ask him."

Tony walked right into the building and up the stairs, looking for the room number that had been given to him. It was a large room, filling up fast with people as they sat down in front of the projector screen or in the back getting drinks or snacks.

He saw James standing back by the table full of chips and walked up to him, Peter falling quietly behind. He seemed happy to see them. Tony didn't understand why people liked him so much but he was beyond questioning it at this point. If people wanted to be friends then he could do that.

"Hey, Tony. Glad to see you could make it." He said, smiling at the two of them as they walked up.

"Yeah. This is Peter Parker. The two of you are both pretty insistent that I see this movie." Tony said.

"Of course, it's literally about an alien who kills people and pops out of their chest." Peter said, looking over the snacks closely. He grabbed a plate and started filling it with a different assortment of chips and dips. "What's not to love?"

Tony shrugged and passed over all the food completely, heading straight for the drinks. There was a significant supply of alcohol and a smaller yet still large stock of soda. He wasn't much of a soda drinker and he had never had alcohol a day in his life.

Everyone was either eating or drinking something, getting ready for the movie as the people by the projector said it was almost time. He didn't care for soda, too much sugar and the carbonation sometimes upset his stomach so he just grabbed a random bottle and filled up a plastic cup.

"What about Jim? I can call me Jim." Tony heard Peter say when he walked back up to him and James.

"No. Jim makes me sound like an old man." He said.

"You guys are actually talking about this?" Tony asked.

"He makes an excellent point. My name is a bit pretentious. But Jamie makes me sound like a little kid." He said.

"And I'm not going to call you Rhodes." Peter replied, getting another handful of chips and a few cookies.

"Why not Rhodey?" Tony said, sighing. He didn't see the point of this conversation, never heard of anyone argue about a name before. Tony just always thought to address people the names they introduced themselves with. He did sometimes make up silly little names for Mesman since he was never supposed to call him by his first name but he would never dare say them to his face.

"I like it." He said, nodding. "No one ever has to call me James again."

The movie started shortly after. It was interesting, he could see why everyone liked it so much. The movie was set in outer space and the crew of this ship as they responded to a distress call. Some alien, probably the one the film is named after, attached itself to one of the crew member's faces. Protocol said he shouldn't be let on board the ship due to quarantine regulations but the Science Officer snuck him on board anyway. That made Tony cringe, people weren't supposed to do stuff like that. It was going to end badly.

He took a quick drink from his cup and almost spit it out. So this was alcohol. It wasn't necessarily bad, it was just hell. It was bitter. A quick glance around didn't show anyone else having any problems so he took another sip. It wasn't so bad once he was prepared for it.

Sure enough, the crew is sitting around and eating when the man collapses and an alien bursts from his chest. It looked painful. Tony's hand went up to rub against his ribs as he watched the creature escape. Tony was starting to feel sick. Everyone was dying, the guy betraying his commanding officer, the people who were actually following orders, it seemed like no matter anyone what a bad thing was going to happen.

It wasn't something Tony wanted to think about. They told him if he did what he was supposed to then he would be alright. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel watching a movie about a bunch of people who were doing their best to survive, follow protocols, and obey orders and all end up dead anyway.

The credits started rolling and he was ready to go home. He stood up and the world turned sideways as he hit a soft yet unmoving wall.

"Wow, Tony. You drink enough?" Peter asked. Tony shook his head as he pushed himself off of him and stood up straighter.

"I only had one cup." Tony said, holding up the empty plastic cup in his hand.

"Pretty big cups though. What did you fill it up with?" Rhodey asked. Tony shrugged. "Okay, whatever. I'm not going to ask. Do you need help getting home?"

Tony smiled. He didn't need any help, all he had to do was walk from one place to another. He'd been doing everything by himself since he could walk and he wasn't going to start accepting help now. He wanted to tell them all that but instead he just waved his hand and quietly repeated, "Nee."

"Okay, I'm going to walk him back to his apartment." Peter said, nodding as Tony started muttering in Dutch.

"Okay, just make sure he doesn't pee in an alley or something." Rhodey said. He looked around as everyone started to leave. "I'll stay here and help clean up, call me if you need anything. It was nice meeting you."

"You too, Jamie." Peter said quickly. Rhodey paused, glaring at him for a moment. "Kidding. Alright, I'll take drunk baby here home. Have fun cleaning."

Tony wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, just leaning on Peter. They walked slowly down the stairs and out of the building. He mumbled under his breath about how, even though he didn't like how almost everyone died, it was a good movie.

"Where do you live, buddy?" Peter asked. Tony mumbled and pointed down the street. "Alright. Next time, let's just have some snacks okay."

Tony shook his head, muttering unintelligibly.

"I have no idea what you're saying, but okay." Peter said.

"Sorry. Just tired." He said. "I know what I'm saying but I guess you don't know what I'm saying. Languages are strange."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're just tired." Peter laughed.

It took a while of Tony pointing the way and Peter hoping he knew what he was doing as he led him through the streets before Tony finally said they were there. It was too long of a walk for Peter's liking, he didn't know how Tony didn't it every day without complaint.

It was a small place, single chair in the living room and just a small bed in the bedroom but it looked comfortable enough. Peter dumped Tony in the chair and searched through the kitchen, frowning at the empty cabinets. There was no food, not even any plates.

"You have no food, Tony. Just eat out all the time?" Peter asked. There was nothing, no take out bags, no pizza boxes, not a single sign of any food anywhere.

"Yeah. I definitely eat." Tony said, closing his eyes and leaning back in the chair.

"You haven't eaten all day, have you?" Peter asked, looking over at him. It would make sense, he hadn't seen Tony eat since the first day of classes in that Dunkin Donuts. Tony looked terrible, tired and small. No wonder one plastic cup of alcohol was enough to turn him into a mumbling mess who couldn't stand up straight.

"I eat." Tony said again, curling into the chair.

Peter sighed, he wasn't going to get anywhere with it tonight. He just picked up Tony and dragged him to bed. "Go to sleep, idiot. We're going to have a talk tomorrow."

Tony whined slightly as he hit the covers. "Are you mad?"

"No." Peter sighed. Tony smiled, eyes half closed and nodded.

"Okay. That's good." He said.


	10. Chapter 10

Tony woke up underneath the blankets that were pulled over his head. It was dark, warm, and he felt completely alone. He ignored the spinning in his head and the sick feeling in his stomach and focused on his own dark, little world. It was safe and except for the frequent and unpleasant waves of nausea he was content.

At least until he heard his front door slamming shut. That wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be alone. Tony sat up slowly, blinking as the room moved around him. It was strange and made him regret drinking whatever random thing he pulled off of that table. Tony rolled over and fell onto the floor, knocking over the glass of water that sat there.

Peter must have found one of Tony's two glasses and left it, just like how Peter walked him back here and how he made sure to put him to bed. He could have very well just left Tony in an alleyway or hurt him or any number of things and Tony was in no position to defend himself. He wasn't going to go to any more movies, certainly not going to drink again. He was going to focus on the reason he was here but at least now he could actually trust Peter, if just a little bit.

"When I left you were asleep." Peter said, walking into the bedroom.

"You left." Tony muttered. He pushed himself off of the wet floor and leaned against his bed. A wave of pain rushed through his head as he sat up. "I must have been a super fun drunk if you wanted to hang out with me again in the morning."

"Yeah, sorry about that. You don't have any food so I had to stop by my dorm. I have noodles, bananas, and some random box of pancake mix. I also have a pan and paper plates so we're set. College is great, I'm so prepared." Peter said, smiling. Tony looked up at him, a slight downturn to his lips but he didn't say anything. "I had to bring it all over, my roommate is pissed off at me because I accidentally set a few things on fire trying to do science. I only brought my food and a few clothes. We're friends, you'll let me stay over."

He was lying. Tony knew he was because of the slight increase in the pitch of his voice. He didn't even ask, he just said he was staying. Tony didn't know if he was allowed to turn say 'no' and Mesman never said he couldn't have people over. Strangely enough, Tony didn't even mind. Peter took care of him last night, he owed him one little lie.

"Just don't use all the hot water." Tony said. Peter smiled, nodding quickly.

"Alright, sure thing. I'm going to see if you have a pan and then make us some banana pancakes that you will eat. Change into a dry shirt and we'll head out into the living room." He said.

Tony didn't get up, just leaned his head back against the blankets as the puddle of water spread across the floor. Peter just sighed and started pushing gently at his shoulder. Tony didn't want to get up. It was Saturday, he didn't have to do anything.

"Tony, you have to get up and eat." Peter said, yanking on his t-shirt. Tony was still in the clothes he was wearing the day before, shoes lying forgotten on the floor as if they were kicked off at the last minute. He shook his head.

"No, I don't have to." Tony said firmly. "You guys advertise this as a free country."

"When was the last time you ate?" Peter asked. Tony frowned. He didn't much mind the question, although he usually got in trouble for lying to people trying to take care of him it was easy enough to hide the truth. If he admitted it had been almost four days then Peter would no doubt make him eat and this was something Tony refused to let anyone influence him on.

"Yesterday." Tony said. His voice remains steady and he makes just the right amount of eye contact. Mesman would be proud. "Had lunch before invited you out."

"Whatever, we're still eating pancakes." Peter said, walking over to the pile of folded shirts on top of Tony's suitcase. He tossed a shirt over. "Change, you're soaked."

Tony pushed himself off of the floor and moved to sit up on the bed. Peter waited patiently by the door as he shrugged off his shirt and tossed it aside. He barely had time to pick up the dry, clean one before it was ripped from his hands.

"What? I thought you wanted me to change?" Tony said. He glanced up quickly at Peter. He was standing by the door moments ago but now he was right in front of him. He looked devastated. "I'm really not that hungry. I don't see why you're so upset about it."

"No. No, we're talking right now. And of course you're going to eat the pancakes. You can't lie to me." Peter said quickly.

Tony held eye contact. He wasn't sure what Peter was so upset about, usually he would go at least five days without eating and it had only been four. There was no problem, he had had it all under control for years.

"I am talking. And I'm fine. You're being strange." He said. Peter shook his head quickly.

"I know. We'll talk about all of that in a minute. Right now I just want to know what all of those are!" His voice was rising as he gestured at Tony's chest. "What's going on with you?"

Tony glanced down. It wasn't anything to be so upset about, just a few scars that clustered across his shoulders and down his front. He had counted them, there were only thirteen and the longest one curling off of his left shoulder.

"It is nothing." Tony said, scooting back across the bed to press his back into the headboard. If this was upsetting Peter then he would definitely be surprised if he got a look at his back and Tony didn't understand what the big deal was. "Children get hurt. It's not an issue."

"Yeah, kids get hurt but not like that." Peter muttered. "You should have a scar from here you skinned up your knee too bad or fell out of a tree not be covered in them."

Tony sighed. "I did fall out of a tree. See this one?" He said, trailing his finger over the pale pink line curving off of his shoulder. "Climbed a tree trying to gather pine nuts."

"What were you getting pine nuts for?"

"So I could eat them." Tony said. "Contrary to what you may believe, I do actually eat."

"Why on Earth would you eat pine nuts?" Peter asked, running his hands through his hair.

"Well, I was stuck in Canada and I was hungry."

Peter frowned. He looked as if he desperately wanted to scream but was too afraid to. Tony wouldn't mind, if he upset him in some way yelling was better. It was certainly easier than having to deal with any pent up frustration for when he angered him again later. Peter wanted to yell, Tony was angering him. He knew he was, he could tell by the way he clenched his fists and shook slightly. Instead, they just sat there in silence.

"It's a long scar." Peter said finally, breathing deeply before sitting down on the bed.

"Fell a long way." Tony said. His mind was racing, he didn't know what he did. If he did something he wasn't supposed to, broke some rule between friends, then he had to know what it was to avoid punishment in the future. "It's fine. They all happened because of me anyway. My fault, nothing to worry about."

"No, Tony. Is that what they told you?!" Peter yelled. Tony looked down at his hands, his headache coming back in full force. Peter sighed. "Later, we'll talk about this later. Just put on a shirt and I'll make pancakes. No objections."

Tony took the shirt back from Peter, pulling it over his head and following him out into the living room. He sat down quietly into the single chair and Peter got to work in the kitchen. The room filled with the smell of food which caused Tony's mouth to water. A strange sort of silence fell over them, no one said anything as he watched the food being prepared and Peter glanced over at him every few minutes, frowning slightly.

"Eat." Peter said, holding a paper plate with a small pile of banana pancakes. Tony took it and frowned. "No forks because apparently you don't believe in buying anything to eat with. Just use your hands, I won't judge." He sat down on the floor next to Tony's chair with his own plate and smiled.

Tony poked at his pancake. "You can't make me eat it." He said slowly. "I feel terrible at the moment so what if I don't want to eat?"

"I don't doubt it, considering how drunk you were last night." Peter said, picking up one of his pancakes. "But no, you have to eat. It's kinda necessary for life."

He couldn't eat. It wasn't time yet. Tony knew he needed to eat and he was going to but not yet. He had a schedule, he had careful control over it. Mesman never cared about two things, if Tony talked back and how much he ate. Tony cherished both activities. He had toned back on his insolence because he wasn't sure how people would react and Tony lived his life trying to avoid physical punishment. Controlling his eating was easier, Peter was the only one who noticed so far. Tony could figure something out about that.

"I really don't think I can." Tony said, poking again at his steadily cooling pancakes. "I feel sick. If I eat this I will probably throw up on you and neither of us want that." He stood quickly and slid his plate over to Peter and walked quickly back towards the bedroom.

He crawled back onto the bed and threw the blankets over his head. It wasn't a lie really. His head was pounding and his stomach did feel like he couldn't keep down anything even if he tried to eat. Tony never planned on drinking again.

A weight dropped next to him on the bed softly. Tony didn't look up to see what it was. Instead he just pulled his blankets closer to him.

"You know you're my friend right? We've only known each other for a few weeks but you're pretty much my best friend right now." Peter said, voice barely rising above a whisper. "What's going on with you?"

Tony sighed. He could admit it was probably a little strange but all the scars were his fault, he did something he wasn't supposed to, he messed up, and he was punished. It used to happen a lot and sometimes Tony hurt so much he could hardly move. He tried to avoid punishment now and the first step towards that was knowing what the rules were. Apparently eating regularly was a big one for Peter.

"Are you angry?" Tony muttered.

"No, no. I'm not mad at you. I just want to know what's going on with you." Peter said. Tony frowned under the covers. The only major thing happening in his life was completing his mission and getting back. Mesman ordered him to do it and Lotte said that it needed to be done so they could be taken care of. That was all that mattered.

"Nothing." He said.

"Whatever. I'll figure it out." Peter said. "I just want to make sure you're okay." Tony felt a shift in movement and heard him walk back out into the living room.

"Long weekend?" Rhodey asked, carrying a box quickly as they followed Dr. Banner.

They finally got to see Bruce's lab. They met Dr. Betty Ross as well as she rushed from one of the computers and into the room containing a large machine. She smiled at them as she walked past.

"You could say that." Tony said, walking up to the large windows looking into the room with the machines. "Peter moved in because apparently he set a small fire in his dorm and his roommate is angry."

"Yeah, he's been texting me all weekend freaking out about something. Won't tell me what it is but says it's big." Rhodey said. "He also described to me the entire plot of the tv series Firefly and then told me to make sure to take you out to lunch."

They put the boxes down on the table Bruce was waving towards and Tony walked back towards the large window looking into the other room. The machine was large, beautifully engineered and Tony would make any excuse possible to get a closer at it.

"If it all goes well, I'll buy lunch for everyone." Bruce said, smiling as he glanced towards the machine. "Okay, you two. This thing, when activated, will give off high levels of gamma radiation. That room is built to absorb is without letting any of it leak out. However, even when it's off neither of you are allowed in that room."

Rhodey nodded quickly and turned away. Tony squinted, focusing on Dr. Ross adjusting small parts of the machine. This was important.

"It should be ready." Dr. Ross said, walking out to join them. "Better go double check before we begin." Bruce smiled, nodding quickly before going in and closing the door behind him.

"You guys are definitely into each other." Rhodey called out from the other side of the room. He was sitting at one of the numerous desks, leaning back with his feet propped up before him. "You guys make those intense stares every time you glance at each other."

Betty laughed. Tony just frowned and looked back at them. Was something like that obvious to look for? He followed her as she walked over to where Rhodey was sitting.

"Well, we've known each other for a while. I wouldn't blame him for falling in love with me." She said.

Tony chuckled as he glanced back at the large windows. Bruce had his whole arm in one of the slots in the machine, he looked focused. Whatever this thing did, it was important to his research. Tony knew his research was based on the super soldier project and Mesman wanted that information.

"I went to Culver University. That's where we met." Betty said, pulling Tony's attention back to them.

"Have you been together long?" He asked.

"A few years." Betty said. "Why don't you two tell me something about yourselves. I haven't had a chance to meet the interns yet." She walked towards one of the computers and sat down.

Rhodey and Tony stood behind her as she checked the data scrolling across the screen. Dr. Ross glanced up at them after a few minutes and nodded.

"Oh, well I'm from Philadelphia. I'm in Course 16, Aerospace Engineering. Hoping to go into the air force one day." Rhodey said quickly, nodding.

"So you're going to be an actual rocket scientist." Tony said.

"It's cooler than being some lame mechanical engineer." Rhodey said, giving Tony a light shove. "I have to impress the girls some way and I don't have some cool European accent working for me."

Tony shrugged. Betty smiled at the two of them.

"Your turn." She said, pointing to him before turning back to the computer.

"There isn't really much to know about me." Tony said. Mesman made a list of all the things he wasn't allowed to talk about, like the fact that his last name on file wasn't real, he had no formal education, or that he was actually there to first steal Dr. Banner's research. "I'm just a nineteen year old student from the Netherlands."

"There we go, that's interesting. Talk about that." Betty said, turning around and smiling at him. "What was the Netherlands like?"

"The winters were cold." He said.

Rhodey rolled his eyes just as a flash of bright green light engulfed them, pouring in from the windows. Betty made a mad dash for the door, screaming something about Bruce before Rhodey grabbed her and pulled her back. Tony just blinked, keeping his eyes down and away from the bright light still pouring in from the windows.

"Let me go! That wasn't supposed to happen, it wasn't on." Betty yelled. "I have to check on Bruce!"

She stood quickly and ran for the door. Before she could reach it a loud roar pierced the air, causing everyone to stop and grab their ears. When it stopped they could hear something being ripped apart, the sound of metal scraping against metal. Tony barely had time to grab Rhodey and jump out of the way as half of the machine came sailing through the window and into the line of desks they were just standing by. Tony looked up quickly, a large mass of green crashing through the wall.


End file.
